Communities fear flood defences may never happen

Work on two flood defence schemes in Worcestershire has been hit by fresh delays and uncertainty over funding.

Tenbury Wells on the Shropshire border was promised permanent defences after severe flooding in 2020, but the scheme's estimated cost has since risen to between £25m and £30m, fuelling fears it may never happen.

Defences to protect the village of Severn Stoke have also been delayed, with the Environment Agency reporting it has not yet chosen a contractor.

The new minister for water and flooding, Emma Hardy, said she would hold fresh talks over both schemes, adding Labour had inherited a flood defence programme facing "extreme delivery challenges".

When floodwater from Storm Dennis hit the market town of Tenbury Wells in February 2020, more than 130 properties were evacuated.

Just weeks earlier, shopkeeper Carole Collier had opened her new clothes store, Smarty Pants, on Teme Street.

"[The water] came up a metre in here... I lost everything really," she said.

The severity of the floods that year prompted the government to commit £4.9m for a permanent defence scheme.

At the time, residents warned that without the measures, Tenbury could become a ghost town.

But four years on, the scheme still does not have planning permission, and the cost now forecast by the Environment Agency is up to six times the original figure.

In the meantime, Carole Collier's flood insurance premiums for the shop has quadrupled.

"How long is it going to be before we have the flood defences?" she asked.

Barbara Selkirk, from Tenbury Area Partnership, an organisation which promotes the town, said: "The mood [locally] at the moment is very anxious.

"While our MP is desperately trying to get the flood defences on to the agenda of the new government, who knows if the money is going to come forwards?"

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said the scheme remained a priority, and said the body was continuing to work with the community and partners to develop a design.

In a House of Commons adjournment debate last week, West Worcestershire's Conservative MP Dame Harriett Baldwin pressed the new government on progress in Tenbury.

"We are in a situation where some of those millions have been spent on consultants and advisors, but the flood defence scheme itself is stuck on the drawing board," she said.

Emma Hardy MP, the minister for water and flooding, said she had studied the complexities of the scheme carefully and agreed to hold further talks.

But she did not commit to fully funding it.

"It's important that we get it right, but it's important that it's also affordable," she said.

Like Tenbury Wells, the village of Severn Stoke is built on a flood plain.

Again, multi-million pound plans for permanent flood defences have been beset by delays and rising costs.

While preparatory work on an embankment began in 2023, tonnes of delivered topsoil lay unused during floods last winter.

"What I feel aggrieved by is the amount of time it’s taken to get to this point," said Andrew Goodall, landlord at the Rose and Crown pub, which has flooded five times in four years.

In January, a video Mr Goodall posted of him drinking a pint while sitting waist-high in flood water went viral, attracting more than a million views on social media.

He said: "Obviously we've got this pot of money. My worry is that if something doesn't happen soon, where's that going to go?"

In an update last week, the Environment Agency said it had been unable to find an affordable contracting route to deliver the Severn Stoke defences.

It said it was now exploring options with Worcestershire County Council and its contractor.

"We remain committed to continuing to explore all options and working in partnership with the community," an Environment Agency spokesperson said.

Welcoming the information, Dame Harriet said: “The current pause on the Severn Stoke scheme is extremely frustrating.

"Local people have shared their concerns with me about their lack of confidence in the Environment Agency.

“I’ve been speaking to Worcestershire County Council for six months to ask them to step in."

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