SRA Annual Report 2024-25: Taunton Flood Action Plan
The aims of this project are to better co-ordinate the management of flood risks from all sources around Taunton and to boost investment in measures to reduce those risks. The project is jointly funded by Somerset Rivers Authority and SRA partners Wessex Water and Somerset Council. It’s led by Wessex Water and Somerset Council. Other partners involved include the Environment Agency and Network Rail.
In 2023, WSP were appointed as consultants to review the large number of existing plans, strategies, models, assessments, schemes and projects that currently relate to Taunton and water, to help identify and analyse gaps and problems, develop an integrated catchment model, and produce costed recommendations for action.
The SRA agreed to part-fund this project because it wanted, in line with its remit, to open up new ways for people to work together, get more funding and spend it efficiently on local priorities.
In February 2025, the project team completed Phase 4 of this project. This involved analysing problems at 11 flooding hotspots within the following areas, especially with surface water, and checking the modelling’s predictions of flooding against historical occurrences:
- Bathpool
- Cheddon Fitzpaine
- Creech St Michael North
- Creech St Michael South
- Kingston St Mary
- Kingston St Mary (north)
- Kingston St Mary (south) to Nailsbourne
- Kingston Stream to Taunton railway station
- North Town and Firepool
- Norton Fitzwarren East
- Norton Fitzwarren West
- Ruishton
- Trull and Staplehay
Phases 5-7 will consist of developing a longlist and then a shortlist of options and drawing up a plan for possible mitigations (which may or may not be implemented depending upon a range of factors). This project is due to be completed by the end of March 2026.