Drop-in sessions to explain river management plans

The latest plan to manage rivers and control flooding in Shropshire and Wales can be discovered via a series of drop in sessions.

A partnership of the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, Powys County Council and Shropshire Council will hold them over the next three months to explain their Severn Valley Water Management Scheme.

The scheme aims to slow the flow of water upstream, to reduce the risk of flooding further down river using "nature based solutions and sensitive engineering methods".

Residents and businesses have faced problems for many years with one Shrewsbury business owner recently saying she had been flooded 20 times since 1998.

The Environment Agency's flood risk manager for the West Midlands, David McKnight, described the plan as "a long-term solution" which has the potential to "better protect thousands of homes and businesses".

Displays at the sessions will set out how habitats can be protected and improved at the same time and the agency said it hoped to "enhance the natural environment’s ability to absorb and store carbon".

The five drop-in sessions will be:

7 November – Newtown - Newtown Library, Park Lane

26 November – Llanidloes - Hanging Gardens Project, Bethel St

10 December – Meifod – Meifod Cobra Rugby Club

13 January – Oswestry – Oswestry Memorial Hall, Smithfield Street

29 January – Shrewsbury – Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Abbey Foregate

Defra and the Environment Agency also promised to keep local authorities informed of their plans.

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