Work finished on new wall in Tenbury Wells to replace one that collapsed in November flood
The wall collapsed back in November when the nearby Kyre Brook burst its banks
Work to build a new wall in Tenbury Wells which collapsed back in November has been completed.
The structure will act as a 'like for like' replacement of the previous one on Market Street, which was damaged when the nearby Kyre Brook burst its banks last year.
Worcestershire County Council said last month that despite it not being possible to identify the owner of the wall it had intended to act as a 'good neighbour' and use its powers to replace the wall for some time.
They then needed an environmental permit to start the work which they say was processed through 'extremely efficiently' by the Environment Agency (EA), enabling the construction date to be brought forward.
Councillor Emma Stokes, cabinet member for the environment at Worcestershire County Council, says its 'pleasing' to see the work has been finished.
"We needed to get the wall back to exactly the same as what it was and we needed to do that incredibly quickly," she said.
"It's positive news, we just need to support this community as it's a beautiful town and it just needs protecting."
Richard Sharman is the owner of florist shop Garland Flowers, who were flooded in November during the same period when the wall collapsed.
He says they were flooded on three other occasions last year and while the rebuilding of the wall will offer some reassurance, he wants to see more being done to protect the area.
"It's reassuring there is some protection there now, but in my opinion it isn't high enough," he said.
"The pressure the flooding has created financially and physically from having to clean everything up and throw it out is becoming unsustainable.
"I think meeting the needs for whatever each individual shop wants to make sure they stay safe to protect them from flooding would be a brilliant idea."
On if the wall could've been built any higher, councillor Stokes commented: "It's at the optimum height, should that be breached at that particular wall height, it would (the water) have already be coming up through the drains and through other mechanisms and through Market Street itself."
Further flood defence plans
Last week, the Environment Agency (EA) announced plans to build a new flood defence scheme for Tenbury Wells had been paused due to a funding shortfall.
The organsation said over £17 million had been allocated to the scheme, but following a review of proposals a funding gap of between £8 and £13 million has been identified.
They added they were now looking at alternative ways of increasing community resilience to flooding, including Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures such as installing flood resistant doors or door barriers and Natural Flood Management options.
Environment Agency area director for the West Midlands Marc Lidderth said: “After agreeing what a final design proposal of the scheme would be, the complexity to construct it and its associated costs means that at present it is not possible to progress without securing all of the required funding.
“Although this is not the position we wanted to be in, we continue to be fully committed to supporting the community of Tenbury Wells in looking at alternative options to help better protect those impacted by flooding.
“We remain open to the possibility of a built scheme in the future if the funding is available and will continue to engage with the local community as we explore other ways to reduce flood risk.”
"We need to protect the properties as quickly as possible, we can't go another year with the frequent flooding that actually happens at Tenbury, and we need to get it done."
West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has been supporting the plans to build a permanent flood protection scheme in Tenbury Wells.
She's pledged to keep fighting for the project but says it's also vital to look at these other ways the area can be protected from flooding.
Baldwin said: "We are obviously disappointed and frustrated that all this work has gone into designing a flood defence scheme but the Environment Agency has now put it on pause.
"I will keep campaigning for that scheme, but in the meantime I welcome the Environment Agency's plans to provide flood protection at an individual property level and also invest in some natural flood management in the Teme and Kyre Brook."
Proposals for the new flood defence scheme were developed by the Environment Agency with partners and the local community and included walls, embankments and flood gates.
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