Up to 70 Southwell homes will be protected from flooding after plans to build a huge earth mound were approved.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee met on Tuesday (28 January) to discuss the plans.
The plans involve creating a long barrier of a mound of earth on playing fields south of Church Street in the town to protect around 70 homes from flooding damage. This was accepted unanimously by the committee.
Southwell has been hit by flash floods several times in recent years, with 14 homes being flooded during Storm Babet in October 2023.
The 250m-long earth mound will work by catching the run-off of water from Potwell Dyke on the site, protecting homes on Church Street, which have been flooded multiple times.
The site and nearby land were previously home to the old Minster School buildings before it moved to Nottingham Road in 2007.
Works to build the mound may be delayed due to the application site being designated as a ‘Scheduled Ancient Monument’, which holds the remains of a mid-2nd Century Roman villa – one of the largest in the region.
Roman ancillary buildings were discovered when the former school site was excavated in 2012.
The entire footprint of the earth mound, which will be a maximum of 2.5m tall, will be excavated by archaeologists before construction begins.
Councillor Philip Owen (Con) said: “Hopefully work [can] start this afternoon because that’s how urgent it should be.
“I wouldn’t want the possibility of a few Roman remains to stop this work… I hope we’re not going to let some perceived archaeology get in the way.”
Cllr Mike Adams (Con) added: “I suppose initially [earth mounds] look quite like a scar on the land when they’re first built because they are mud lumps, but over time they do naturalise.
“[The Roman remains] shouldn’t get in the way of protecting people, and whatever mitigation is needed to ensure that’s the case will be taken.”
The works would reduce the flooding risk for nearby homes, with 36 properties protected from a one-in-75-year flooding event and the other 34 experiencing reduced flood risks.
Sport England originally objected to the proposals on the grounds that the old sports pitch where the mound would be built could be brought back into use.
It has since assessed the quality of the other two pitches around the site and removed its objection on the basis that works to the two pitches will “overcome the loss of [the] playing field”.
The mound’s creation will impact three public footpaths across the site – these would be amended, including adding steps to the mound.
The earth mound project is part of a wider scheme to alleviate flooding impacts in Southwell and reduce the flood risk for a total of 248 homes and 66 commercial properties.
Some of the works to address flooding issues include improved drainage in Church Street and Halam Road, as well as the regrading of a ditch and surface water works in northern Southwell.
The town suffered more than £9 million in damage after around 300 homes and businesses were flooded in 2013. Some residents could not return to their homes for more than a year.
Situated in a valley, Southwell has several areas prone to flooding.
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