Blocked Highway Drains

Your Highways – Report it | Highways (gloucestershire.gov.uk)

Blocked river/water course

Watercourses and ditches – Forest of Dean District Council

Early Warning Device

Great thanks to Newent Town Council who have agreed to fund the ongoing maintenance costs for the Peacock Brook Early Warning Device.

The device was initially financed by GCC, who also funded the maintenance until December 2023. Newent town councils commitment to fund the maintenance from December 2023 safeguards the future of this early warning device and allows it to be fully incorporated into Newent’s Emergency Plan.

By integrating the alert, a cascade of warning to vulnerable properties, and to the wider Emergency Services, can now be developed to fit within the Emergency Flood Plan.

In the future we hope data from the device can be used to help inform the development of further flood attenuation and resilience plans.

Furthermore the data may also be used to help predictions further, by using the water levels and rain forecasts to give a longer advance warning.

The story of the Newent advance flood warning device

Following the massive flooding in Newent on the 23rd December 2020, the infant committee of what is now the Newent Neighbourhood Flood Association started looking for ways of protecting the town in future. We approached the Environment Agency to find out if they would have any objection to the official installation of an advance flood warning device on Peacock Brook and in February their confirmation that it was alright to go ahead was received if the appropriate permissions were in place.

This type of warning device is mounted over the stream and gathers data which automatically triggers alerts and warnings of danger to Newent Town Council flood response teams and others on the warning list and should give Newent residents and businesses time to get their flood protections in place to protect both people and property.

On the 23rd February 2021 the NNFA committee formally wrote to Newent Town Council with a rough order of costs for such a device for their consideration, suggesting that they might like to discuss the matter, so that it could be integrated with the NTC Emergency Plan and in conjunction with any other FODDC flood protection processes and procedures.

About nine months later, on 18th November 2021, Newent Town Council arranged a formal public meeting with the Local Authorities and the Highways Department. The object of the meeting was for the public, including members of the NNFA committee, to table questions to James Blockley, representing the GCC LLFA, Andrew Middlecote, representing GCC Highways Department and Laurence King, representing Publica Ltd, who are technical consultants to the FODDC.

During the meeting the Chair of the NNFA raised the question once again about time scales to fit the advance flood warning device and James Blockley representing GCC LLFA, confirmed that he had investigated the matter, and had outline details about management of the device, with operational costs for the short and long term. Following discussions with a local land owner James Blockley subsequently confirmed that the Advance Warning Device was installed on the 29th December 2021.

The NNFA consulted with Mr Blockley during January and March 2022, to provide a list of telephone numbers of businesses and affected residents wishing to participate in the scheme. We also believe that the Newent Town Council have been working with him to assimilate the new device into their Emergency Plan.

On the 29th March 2022 the NNFA formally wrote to James Blockley to thank him for his efforts to fund, install and set to work the Advance Flood Warning Device on Peacock Brook, giving much needed reassurance to the community and providing tangible evidence that the GCC LLFA are trying to protect the residents and businesses of the Town, whilst seeking to find the long-term plan to fix the question of broken and blocked drains and execute other possible flood attenuation schemes.