"Cocoon" plans for Bath care home to prevent flooding
Bridgemead was caught up in floods in 2013
A Bathwick nursing home at risk of flooding is seeking to install a “cocoon” of defences to prevent significant harm to its residents.
Bridge Care secured planning permission for the works at Bridgemead on the bank of the River Avon in 2017 after the river level came within 13 centimetres on Christmas Eve four years earlier, forcing a full-scale evacuation.
Trustees do not want to leave the purpose-built property so, after facing funding issues, are refining their proposals.
The new application says: “The home was opened in 1992 and, for the past 30 years, has provided excellence of care that is widely acclaimed within the city by residents, their families, and all visitors to the home.
“Bridge Care wants to respond to challenges facing the home in the future. New river modelling technology has brought to light the increased scale of the flooding challenges on the Avon River.
“This new information was not available for the original team 30 years ago, but provide an opportunity to enhance the work of Bridgemead as we look to the future.”
The riverside site is potentially vulnerable to flooding from three sides and the external undercroft is frequently underwater. The Environment Agency has warned that the ground floor bedrooms are unsuitable without enhanced defences.
A report commissioned by Bridge Care concluded that, due to the geology, it is not possible to prevent water from entering the site so the home will have to be adapted to withstand rising water levels. New robust defences are set to be provided up to the site’s highest flood level in the last 200 years.
The plans say: “While these defences will not prevent water ingress in all possible flood events, it will delay the need for evacuation and, assuming the waters do not overtop the defences, allow for a swift return to the home should an evacuation be necessary.
“The proposed design seeks to create a “cocoon” of protection around the existing building through the introduction of a new glazed balustrade to the western perimeter of the existing building, new masonry walls to the north of the home and removable barriers to the south.”
Bath and North East Somerset Council will consider the application.