Horncastle flooding: Environment Agency defends response

More than 50 residents attended a public meeting in the town earlier to hear directly from Environment Agency officials

The Environment Agency (EA) has defended its response to a major flooding event in Horncastle.

During Storm Babet in October 2023, a reservoir sluice gate in the town did not automatically close as designed.

Almost 200 properties were flooded, with the EA coming under fire for delays in closing the gate, which was designed to prevent flooding.

Operations manager Peter Reilly told a public meeting the flooding was caused by the sheer volume of water.

An Environment Agency report said flooding on 19 and 20 October 2023 was caused by "heavy rainfall downstream" after the River Bain was hit by up to two months' rain in one day.

The £8m flood storage reservoir scheme was completed in 2017 to reduce flood risk along the River Bain in Horncastle and villages downstream.

"Storm Babet was bigger than the design standard of the scheme. This was very, very much bigger than that," Mr Reilly said.

Horncastle saw significant flooding as a result of Storm Babet

The scheme uses land owned by farmer John Harrison, who told the BBC that water was flowing back into the river rather than being stored in the reservoir.

The Environment Agency has admitted there was a two-and-a-half hour delay in closing the floodgate - but said that did not cause 197 properties to flood.

The flood reservoir also did not offer protection from water courses coming into the town downstream of the scheme, Mr Reilly added.

Environment Agency officials said they were looking at the possibility of further flood protection schemes to mitigate this.

Following the publication of the report, some residents accused the agency of having "marked its own homework".

Concerns had also been raised about the length of time it had taken for the agency to respond to calls from local land owners and farmers about the rising water levels.

The meeting was chaired by Horncastle Mayor Councillor Matt Wilkinson. He said: "Tonight was good. It allowed the Environment Agency to go over the report in detail."

However, he added there were still a lot of questions "that need to be answered", particularly in regard to what would happen during future heavy rain events.