Bewdley to get £6.2m permanent flood defences

The river breached temporary defences in Beales Corner in January

Permanent flood defences costing £6.2m are set for a Worcestershire town blighted twice by water since 2020.

The scheme replaces temporary barriers at Beales Corner, Bewdley, in a bid to better protect about 30 homes and more than 150 businesses there. 

Water last breached the temporary defences during Storm Christoph in January 2021.

Flooding minister Rebecca Pow said the move would help "significantly reduce the risk of flooding in this area".

In January, an owner of rental properties in Bewdley said the Severn rushed in like a tsunami when Beales Corner was breached for the second time in 12 months.

Bev Styles labelled that experience "beyond heartbreaking" and on Tuesday gave a cautious response to the announcement, suggesting the project's benefits would depend on the timeframe for completion.

Bev Styles in January explaining the "tsunami"

The Environment Agency says work is expected to start next year and cites a completion date of 2024.

Ms Styles said she had concerns over what could happen before the new barriers were in place.

The Environment Agency has not confirmed whether the temporary defences will return. It said previously they would not be used again unless there was total confidence they could do the job.

Ms Styles does not expect to see them. "Because we've been told that we don't have [temporary barriers], we're going to have sandbags from the Environment Agency," she said.

"From our point of view it's extremely worrying because we could be back to square one in a few months' time with winter."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Environment Agency workers in 2020 to discuss efforts to tackle flooding in the town

The move is part of a £10m project to manage water in the Severn Valley using a programme of measures across the upper Severn catchment to reduce risk to communities.

A further £4.5m will be invested in smaller projects, using natural flood management techniques such as dams made from woody debris to slow the flow of water upstream of Shrewsbury. 

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Irene Buxton's Beales Corner home suffered damage totalling £45,000 in 2020, but in 20201 she used her own pumps in the cellar to keep out water.

"I'm happy about it," she said of the permanent measures. "I started up the flood committee nine years ago and we have been fighting for this all along.

"But what we need to know is what we're going to be doing in the meantime.

"I know [the temporary defences] were breached last time, other times it has worked and kept [the water] out."

The new barriers are designed to protect 31 homes and more than 150 businesses

Ms Pow, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, visited Beales Corner on Tuesday to announce the scheme.

She said:  "Flooding is a devastating experience as people in Bewdley know only too well.

"The new Beales Corner scheme, combined with flood alleviation projects further up the Severn Valley, will help significantly reduce the risk of flooding in this area in future."

Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the Environment Agency, said:  "I know from meeting members of the community in Bewdley that flooding here is a constant worry."

Saying that the measures at Beales Corner and further along the valley would "better protect homes and businesses", she added: "But, with climate change bringing more extreme weather, people need to be vigilant."

Funding for the scheme is being made available through the government's £170m economic recovery package, announced last year.