Aquadrome is 'coming back to life'

Residents of a holiday park have welcomed new owners who say they plan to spend millions of pounds on flood prevention work.

Meadow Bay Villages took over Billing Aquadrome, Northamptonshire, in April and have spent £12m on improvements – something residents said had brought it "back to life".

The Great Billing site was hit by flooding in both January and February, and the holiday park was evacuated on both occasions.

Geoffrey Smith the new chief executive officer at the site said as well as improvements, several million pounds had been provisioned towards flood resilience, and he was hopeful there would be no more flooding before the money was put to use.

Mandy and Simon Bazley, who have lived at the park for 12 years, said the last evacuation was "scary" as water came onto the site quickly at about 03:00 GMT.

Their home did not flood but they did lose power.

"It was difficult... but you're glad to get back because it's community here and everyone helps each other," said Mrs Bazley.

"You can see the changes already [since the new owners took over]... Having management back on will help a lot... Before, we had no one to fight our corner."

Mr Bazley welcomed the preventative measures, but told BBC Look East: "We are on a floodplain and it happens. If you live on a flood plain you expect to get flooding."

The caravan parks at Billing Aquadrome and Cogenhoe Mill went into administration in July 2023.

Both sites continued to operate and had hundreds of occupants, but when the floods hit many complained about a lack of communication.

Chief executive Mr Smith said he hoped to improve communication with residents, improve facilities and reduce the risk of flooding, although he acknowledged it would be a "long-term project".

Margaret Smith, 76, has visited the park for 37 years and said the improvements reminded her of what it was like there 20 years ago.

"What they have done here is remarkable compared with what has been like in last decade," she said.

"It wasn't the same place it was years before... but I see it all coming back to life.

"It reminds me of what it was like 20 years ago with the hustle and bustle and children out playing. I'm really pleased."

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