SRA Annual Report 2023-24: Minehead 25 Year Flood Action Plan
After nearly two years of work, a report into Minehead’s many flooding problems was finalised in summer 2023. Eighty-six pages long with three substantial appendices, it was researched and written by consultants at WSP, and part-funded by SRA and Wessex Water, in a project led initially by Somerset County Council (since April 2023, Somerset Council).
Minehead’s flooding problems are made worse by the ways in which they combine risks and impacts from watercourses, farmland, woodland, built up areas, the sea and its tides, rainfall and drainage systems that are not fully mapped or understood.
Minehead’s catchment has to be looked at as a complicated whole, which is why WSP were asked to produce a 2D integrated Catchment Model, as the basis for getting a better understanding, and developing ideas for tackling flood risks from all sources in and around Minehead.
The report used WSP’s model and historic records to identify five flooding hotspots:
- Woodcombe Lane and Bratton Lane
- Bratton Stream – Open Channel
- Bratton Stream – Town Culvert
- Vulcan Road and Brunel Way
- Alcombe Brook
The project team then picked out nine initial options which might be a cost-effective way of reducing flood risks in and around Minehead.
- Use natural flood management techniques to slow flows of water running off from farmland and woodland above Minehead.
- Create green spaces in Minehead, such as small ponds, which can hold back water that might otherwise run along streets and into buildings, and then release that water slowly when the worst is over.
- Open up a clogged rainwater pipe which was found to be buried on the beach so that rain can flow freely into the sea.
- Make sure that houses built south of Hopcott Road get built in ways that do not increase flooding, by talking to developers and using the planning system.
- Protect individual houses so they are less likely to flood inside when water is high outside, for example by putting in flood-proof doors.
- Change local planning policies to help reduce flooding.
- Get better information about old pipes under Minehead, so people know where they are and how big they are, so they can be better managed.
- There are few historic records of flooding for some areas of Minehead which the new catchment model suggests are likely to flood, so it would be useful to talk to residents in those areas about their experiences, partly to help assess the model as a model.
- Look at ways to reduce blockages in the Bratton Stream area, which can lead to water spilling into nearby gardens.
Wessex Water, Somerset Council and the Environment Agency are planning to hold meetings with local residents and businesses to discuss what has been found out and what should be done next.
The SRA is keen for actions to be taken, and has offered the support of its community engagement team, especially after Minehead flooded again in September 2023.