Flood Risk

Like many other villages in the area Wrington experienced severe flooding in what was called the ‘Great Flood of 1968’. This was in July 1968 when there was widespread damage in Bristol and Somerset. At that time the open stream ran right through the village, with The Glebe development site then a field and with a pond close to what is now the old surgery site. Of course, houses have since been built in the village and the open stream has been culverted to run under what are now gardens, the result being that under certain conditions surface water arriving in the village cannot drain away quickly enough.

Flood Relief Scheme

Because flooding has occurred on several occasions in recent years NSC and the Environment Agency worked together to develop a flood relief scheme. As mentioned on the Emergency Planning page, this focused on a flood water holding or storage area on land to the east of the village and a larger culvert between The Glebe and Garstons Orchard.

In addition to these two essential features, it was identified that there will still be a residual risk of flooding for some properties. Therefore the scheme included property protection measures (eg door boards, self-sealing air brick covers and one-way valves fitted to foul drains) which were installed in properties that would benefit the most.

Funding

The estimated cost of the scheme was £750,000 and funding was sought from a number of partners. In addition to the £100,000 from North Somerset Council and the £32,000 developer funding agreed with the parish council, a further £80,000 was secured from the Wessex Regional Flood & Coastal Committee, and £150,000 from Wessex Water. The remaining £388,000 was from DEFRA’s Flood Defence Grant in Aid.