Recommendations made to better prepare Nottinghamshire for future flooding

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Place Select Committee met on Wednesday, January 22, to discuss the authority’s response to Storm Babet in October 2023, and Storm Henk in January 2024.

Thousands of homes and businesses were flooded across Nottinghamshire during both events.

As a result, the committee was presented with a list of 13 recommendations to better prepare the council to deal with the impacts of future flooding.

These included an increase in communication across organisations within a wider network, more detailed flood management efforts with residents, and a campaign to improve people’s awareness of the dangers of driving through high water.

The committee also put forward a recommendation to work closely with ‘Riparian owners’ – landowners whose properties adjoin a watercourse.

Coun Sue Saddington (Con) said there was concern about reports of residents removing road closure flood notices to drive through routes under water.

She said: “This can cause flooding for other houses, that may not in actual fact flood if people weren’t moving the signs and driving through the water. It is dangerous. How do we stop that?”

Coun Neil Clarke (Con), Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said the authority has to make continued efforts “get the message out” for residents to respect the closures but admitted it is “not easy”.

He said: “People don’t realise flood water is dangerous.”

One recommendation addressed the issue around cleaning and maintaining clear gullies near roads, so flood water can drain away more quickly.

Conservative-led Nottinghamshire County Council is in charge of gully cleaning, while district and borough councils are responsible for street cleaning.

Coun Kane Oliver (Ash Ind) said it was “disgraceful” that majority of gullies in his district have not been cleaned, he claimed.

He asked the council whether funding would be “fairly allocated” to ensure resident’s properties are protected during a flooding event.

Coun Clarke said the gully cleaning will be included across the “whole of Nottinghamshire”.

The council received 640 reports of blocked gullies from 20 October 2023, with 2,000 customer reports received, documents show.

Gullies are important in preventing water accumulation on roads and pavements.

During a flood, sewers can become overwhelmed with storm water.

Gravity would then carry all the storm water travelled into the closest ditches and gullies which empty into watercourses such as the River Trent.

During Storm Babet, extremely high river levels meant that water in gullies had nowhere to go, so the water flowed into the surrounding low-lying areas.

More than 1,200 homes and businesses across Nottinghamshire suffered internal flooding from Storm Babet in October 2023.

Meanwhile, more than 340 homes were flooded during Storm Henk in January 2024.

The committee voted in favour of the recommendations, with two abstentions from Coun Kane Oliver (Ash Ind) and Coun Tom Hollis (Ash Ind).

The recommendations will go to Cabinet in March this year.