New flood gates rushed in to protect Deerhurst

New flood gates, an essential element of the Environment Agency's Deerhurst flood alleviation scheme, have been rushed in this week ahead of time to protect the community from rising water levels on the River Severn.

The £500,000 flood alleviation scheme at Deerhurst, which is being built in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council and Deerhurst Preservation Limited, will help to protect the village of Deerhurst in Gloucestershire from flooding.

But with construction still underway and flood watches and warnings issued along the River Severn, the project team and the supplier of the floodgates pulled out all the stops to get the gates to Deerhurst ahead of an already demanding schedule to make sure the community was protected.

The new flood scheme is now operational and ready to protect Deerhurst from flooding, but there is still some work to do before it is completely finished.

Deerhurst was badly affected during the Summer 2007 floods. Work began just two years later, in August 2009, to provide the extra protection Deerhurst needs by bringing flood defences up to a high standard but we have to recognise that it is possible for an extreme flood to overwhelm even the best defences. The new flood defences will help protect the village from a flood with a 1% chance of happening in any one year.

We have been supported by local people through Deerhurst Preservation Limited, who supplied all of the required soil for the scheme and have contributed £50,000 in cash.

Gloucestershire County Council is contributing £550,000 to flood schemes across Gloucestershire. Stan Waddington, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "This is the first of six major flood alleviation schemes that the Environment Agency will deliver in the county over the next 18 months. Gloucestershire County Council is providing partnership support and funding for these projects, and it is very good news that this scheme has been successfully completed giving properties in Deerhurst greater protection from the risk of flooding."

The Deerhurst flood scheme was complex and has taken several months to build. The area is of national archaeological importance, and contains a scheduled ancient monument.

Environment Agency Project Manager, Martin Young, says "I am delighted that, thanks to the efforts of our contractors Defence Doors Ltd and Amalgamated Construction Ltd to get the gates to us and fit them quickly, we were able to install them in time to make sure that Deerhurst is protected from the current flooding.

"None of this would have been possible without the sterling efforts of our Operations Delivery Technical Specialist George Tomlin and his team."

Assistant Project Manager, Hannah Rees, adds "This is good news for the residents, who suffered very badly during the 2007 floods, with well over half the homes in the village being affected.

"However, while they are now protected from flooding to modern standards, it is possible for an extreme flood to overtop even the best defences. People must remain prepared and have their flood plans in place."

Deerhurst Abbots Court flood gate

Deehurst churchyard flood gate

Deehurst House flood gate

Deerhurst

Deerhurst village is a small settlement of twenty nine houses including two farms, one a extensive organic milk producer. There are two sites of historic and national interest: one being an Anglo Saxon Church , St. Mary’s (670 AD approximately), and the other being Odda’s Chapel (1056 AD). A large part of the village and the proposed scheme overlaps the Deerhurst monastic site and multi-period settlement Scheduled Monument (SM).

Of the twenty nine houses in the village eighteen were flooded in July 2007 in addition to both of the village farms. Four of these properties are listed and thirteen of them had water greater than one metre deep throughout the property.