On Thursday 4th October I was delighted to attend the opening of the flood management scheme in Badsey Brook. The £4.1 million flood storage areawill reduce the risk of flooding to nearly 300 homes and businesses in Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot. I was joined at the event by Broadway Councillor Liz Eyre and Tony Jones, retired Chief Engineer from Wychavon District Council. During the event, there was an official plaque unveiling and burying of a time capsule.
As many constituents will be aware, the villages of Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot were severely flooded in 2007 following record breaking rainfall across the area and again flooded in 2012. The new flood storage area, sited at an 18 acre field in Broadway, will be able to hold up to 135,000 cubic metres of water during times of flood and will only allow a set amount of water to flow downstream at times of intense and high rainfall. This will reduce flood risk to 57 properties in Broadway and 215 properties in Childswickham and Murcot.
The Badsey Brook flood risk management scheme has been delivered as part of the Environment Agency’s £2.6b capital investment programme to reduce flood risk to 300,000 homes by 2021.
The Environment Agency, Worcestershire County Council, Wychavon District Council, Broadway Parish Council and Childswickham Parish Council worked in partnership to secure over £2 million of Government Grant in Aid funding towards the scheme. The Environment Agency’s English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee also contributed £1.2million. Worcestershire County Council and Wychavon District Council and the local parishes contributed the remaining £900,000.
As a condition of the planning application, detailed archaeological investigations, part funded by Worcestershire County Council, were carried out at the site, unearthing evidence of settlements dating back around 8,500 years. Finds included a beaker dating from around 2,000 BC and skeletons of a mother and baby.
I am delighted that after so much hard work the Badsey Brook scheme has officially opened and it is a huge relief to see substantive action taken to avoid the terrible flooding that we saw in 2007 and 2012 happening again.
Flooding is personally, financially and environmentally devastating and as local MP I would like to thank the Environment Agency, Worcestershire County Council, Worcester Archaeology, English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, construction workers and local people for contributing to the completion of this vital scheme. May it protect people, businesses and properties for years to come.