Stoke-on-Trent flooding scheme could create hundreds of jobs

The 6km (3.7 mile) Fowlea Brook has a modified concrete channel with no existing flood defences

A £9.5m plan to alleviate city centre flooding will enable regeneration and create hundreds of jobs, the Environment Agency said.

The scheme is to bolster Fowlea Brook in Stoke-on-Trent, a concrete-lined tributary of the River Trent.

Properties in the area have not flooded since 1997 but there is a high risk of flash flooding, the agency adds.

Plans will go on public display at Factory Floor, Potbank, between 15:00 and 19:00 BST.

Embankments, flood defences and a new section of channel are to be created on a 500m (1,640ft) stretch of Fowlea brook between Shelton Old Road and the Civic Centre.

A weir will be removed, allow fishing to migrate along a 6km (3.7 mile) stretch from the Trent to the brook.

There are multiple buildings immediately alongside the channel

Mr Swain said the scheme would both protect the area from the impact of flooding and make it more resilient to the effects of climate change.

"Water levels can increase by more than a metre in 15 minutes, particularly during summer thunderstorms as we saw in July 2021," he said.

"It will also enable the area to be regenerated and help to create up to 570 jobs," added Mr Swain.

Duncan Walker, cabinet member for planning, climate change and regeneration at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said the new defences could avoid £62m of damage to properties.

The scheme is largely funded by the Environment Agency, which has pledged £5.2bn for new flood defences by 2027.

The Trent Regional Flood and Coastal Committee has also contributed £1.5m, with £500k from the Stoke and Staffordshire LEP and £92k from Stoke-on-Trent City council.

It is hoped construction will start in October and take two years.