Successful Flood Management in Tattenhall

As we await STORM JORGE this weekend and which is set to batter Britain with 70 mph winds and more torrential rain, it is reassuring to know that Tattenhall's own natural flood management scheme is working to plan.

Completed nearly three years ago by the Environment Agency, with the support of Tattenhall Wildlife Group (TWiG) and the Bolesworth Estate, the scheme aims to 'slow the flow' of the Mill Brook which flows into the Mill Pond and then downstream into the River Dee.

This has been successfully achieved by altering the course of the Mill Brook, allowing the flooding of adjacent farmland. A series of retention ponds, woody dams and reed-beds were created to achieve this objective.

The result has also seen the creation of a significant area of wetland, upstream from the Mill Pond and which has succeeded in slowing the flow ... As well as holding back the flow of water, the area also provides a significant wetland habitat for wintering bird species such as snipe together with other species including reed bunting and water rail.

This initiative, heralded as a best practice exemplar by the Environment Agency, continues to protect the heart of Tattenhall from serious flooding – we don't want a repeat of the flooding which occurred back in 2000 in those properties adjacent to the Barbour Institute.

(images taken by TWiG on 26 February 2020)