Presentation by Heather Shepherd from National Flood Forum regarding Flood Community & Recovery Support. Presented at Natural Flood Management conference January 25th 2017 at University of Gloucestershire. Hosted by CCRI and Stroud District Council

1. THE NATIONAL FLOOD FORUM
The importance of communities in natural
flood management
Heather Shepherd
Flood Community & Recovery Support
heather.shepherd@floodforum.org.uk
www.floodforum.org.uk
Supporting and Representing Flood Risk Communities 1

2. Living with floods
Supporting and Representing Flood Risk Communities 2
CR NFF

3. Flood Action Groups
Their community - Their vision
Supporting and Representing Flood Risk Communities 3
CR NFF

4. Ready to lead in partnership to
make it happen
Supporting and Representing Flood Risk Communities 4
CR NFF

5. Flood Action Groups
Involved in NFM
Sarah Halford from Diddlebury in Shropshire
Mike McCarthy from Shipston in Warwickshire
Sarah Lunnon from Slad Brook in Gloucestershire
Supporting and Representing Flood Risk Communities 5

6. Diddlebury Flood Action Group
6

7. Diddlebury Flood Action Group
7

8. Diddlebury Flood Action Group
8

9. Shipston Area Flood Action Group
(SAFAG)
9
Recent Flooding
1998/2007/2008/2012/2013/2016
• 2nd highest risk location in Warks
(2/40)
• Affects 1 town and 6 villages,
• 130 properties/businesses
• Creating regular flood stress
• Post flood clear ups and costs
• Difficulty in selling homes
• Insurance issues

10. Restrict height to 3.4m for
approx 7 hours
Could be in excess of
3,000,000m3 water
Shipston 9th March 2016
the need to ‘slow the flow’

11. River Stour at Shipston bridge
11
Normal flow
In flood

12. NFM Research Visits
12
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Pickering Beck, Yorkshire
Witney, Oxfordshire
• Attendance at and presented
to numerous flood summits in
last 3 years
• Hosted & presented to RFCC
2016
Honeydale Farm,
Gloucestershire
Extensive catchment
field walks
Witney, Oxfordshire

13. River Stour Catchment NFM
Proposals
13
Upstream
520 ha of catchment afforestation. Canopy interception around the catchment source
90 x Large woody and coarse woody debris dams
280 ha of forested water retention areas. Altered woodland management/coppicing
420m of hedgerow reinstatement.
Middle / Confluences
340 ha of floodplain and riparian afforestation to increase floodplain roughness.
24 x Offline ponds : Semi-permeable areas of storage to de-synchronise peak flows
160 ha of enhanced buffer strips. Increased riparian roughness
Downstream
30 x Clay bunds. Points of raised earth to intercept key drainage pathways
22 x Offline ponds. More permanent features with larger capacity for storage and longer retention
44 x LWDs - often larger than those upstream due to larger fluvial profiles

14. SAFAG barriers identified
14
• Remove barriers to progress and unlock the potential of community based
groups.
• Be bold, optimistic, apply common sense and local knowledge whilst continuing
to building evidence. (Think big, act early).
• Active buy in and support from relevant Agencies. Converting Agency statements
into action eg “The solutions to flooding are local”.
• Make “Slowing the Flow” on a catchment scale, a funding priority.
• Secure major funding for remainder of interventions.
• Address/understand grant schemes, land use policies and incentives.
SAFAG knows what it wants to do, where and how.
Could we be a pathfinder for similar size catchments within the UK?

15. Future Challenges
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• Securing ongoing funding streams.
• Convincing land owners of the
benefits of NFM.
• Continue in ‘joined up working’
with Politicians, Multi Agencies
and numerous Charities.
• Recognising there are no silver
bullets, and we are involved in
running a marathon, not a 100m
sprint!
• Jump the ‘hurdles’ and maintain
the progression

16. Slad Brook Flood Action Group
16