Natural flood risk measures give fresh hope to villagers at Whissendine
Hopes are high that a new natural flood management scheme will reduce risks of Whissendine being badly impacted again by high water levels.
The village suffered bad flooding in October 2023, early 2024 and in January this year, following storms and heavy rainfall.
Natural flood risk measures have been completed, following the dredging of Whissendine Brook earlier in the year, and they showed early signs of success when Storm Claudia hit last month.
Recent works on the brook include regrading of the riverbanks to reduce erosion, which had contributed to blocked culverts, an enlarged wetland storage area and a series of ponds.
Previously, leaky barriers and trees were ‘hinged’ across the upper watercourse to slow and temporarily store high flows.
The now-complete wetland area creates 1,200m3 of additional floodplain storage and creates habitat that can support a greater variety of species.
Ruth Needham, head of landscapes and partnerships at Trent Rivers Trust, which carried out the project, said: "As flooding becomes an incredibly pressing issue here in the Midlands, we can no longer afford to overlook solutions that work with nature against flood risk.
"The new wetland area will slow the flow and provide much-needed additional storage to reduce flood impact.
"While natural flood management is not a silver bullet, and there is a long history of flooding in Whissendine village, it can cost-effectively operate in areas where hard-engineered structures are less suitable.
"It can also intervene and alleviate pressure on traditional flood interventions.”
The White Lion pub was particularly badly flooded in January this year and it is hoped the new measures will drastically cut the chances of it happening again this winter.
"We are now looking forward to exploring what more we can do to support residents,” added Ruth.
Following the completion of the natural flood management (NFM) scheme, Whissending Parish Council said in a statement: “Early signs that the works have improved the flood risk to the village are encouraging.
"It is hoped that further NFM schemes up-stream can secure even more improvement in future."
The Trent Rivers Trust work in Whissendine was made possible thanks to the 2021-2024 partnership between WWF UK and insurer, Aviva, which is part of a wider ambition to increase flood resilience across the UK by working with nature.