Year of works for flood-hit areas after wet winter

A year-long series of works has been announced to help prevent severe flooding in parts of a county after one of its wettest winters on record.

The Somerset River Authority (SRA) has approved funding for the work, which will include spending £775,000 on dredging the River Parrett and up to £100,000 to protect the A358 at Donyatt, near Ilminster.

Somerset was hit by its wettest winter since the floods in 2014 this year, causing widespread disruption and flooding, with a major incident declared.

Mike Stanton, SRA chairman, told BBC Radio Somerset that the works were "crucial" but added they would not stop flooding in the future.

The SRA agreed on 20 March to begin dredging in April, focusing on the section downstream of Burrowbridge where the River Parrett and River Tone meet as it is a key area within the Somerset Levels and Moors which experiences extensive flooding, leaving land underwater for days.

Meanwhile, funds will also be used to clear gullies on the A358 in Donyatt which frequently floods during periods of heavy rain.

Bryony Sadler, who lives in Moorlands and is a representative of the Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG), said the funding was "great news" but more work would be needed.

She added: "We've got to have a much better plan for Somerset. As a whole catchment because obviously we deal with catchment water.

"The water that ends up here isn't the water that fell here, it's from Yeovil and Taunton. If we don't protect those areas because it's Bridgwater next and then you're in trouble because that's a major town."

Stanton, who is also a Somerset councillor, said dredging the River Parrett would be "crucial".

"It helps get the water out of the bottom of the catchment system. It runs down the Parrett and gets the water out to the Bristol Channel.

"Having allocated what is a substantial amount to that [A358 in Donyatt] it will really make a difference."

Asked if the works would stop future flooding, he said: "No. It's a man-made landscape. It's the Levels and Moors.

"That means this natural floodplain isn't a natural floodplain anymore. Every time mankind manages a bit of it, it has a consequential knock-on effect somewhere else."

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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