The area has previously been hit with severe flooding
Floodwater within Holway House Park in Ilminster, pictured in October 2021(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
The Environment Agency says it could take “about a decade” for a scheme to be implemented to safeguard Ilminster park homes from flooding.
Residents of park homes at Holway House Park and Home Farm Park, situated north of the B3168 Station Road, experienced severe flooding in October 2021.
An official review by Somerset County Council (known as a Section 19 report), published in September 2022, put forward several recommendations to safeguard these properties – including more proactive gully clearing and encouraging local farmers to cease growing maize in an effort to reduce surface water run-off.
In response to this review, the park home owners clubbed together to fund repairs to an existing bund on Home Farm Way, which has proven effective in preventing floodwater from reaching their properties.
However, the EA has cautioned that any additional improvements may take years to materialise, owing to the extensive modelling necessary and the requirement to secure government funding.
Park home resident Barbara Ball highlighted the matter when the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) board convened in Yeovil on Friday (March 20).
She said: “We have had three flood warnings in the last 13 months.
“The residents of Home Farm Way, Green Lane and Orchards paid for the bund to be restored at the back of Home Farm Way during 2023 and 2024. This bund has successfully held back a tremendous amount of water in the following floods.
“We desperately need funding to have the culvert cleared in Station Road, which is overgrown and full of silt that washes from the field – along with the the other end of the culvert, and the Shudrick Stream behind Green Lane.
“The Slape Stream that is in the same field across Station Road has been filled in, so the water runs across the field finding its own path down to the cattle grid gate, into Station Road and into Holway House Park.
“The Atkins report of 2024 and the recent Section 19 report both state if these works were done it would help eliminate a lot of the causes of the flooding.”
Ms Ball emphasised the EA must collaborate with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) and local landowners to guarantee the latter were meeting their obligations regarding local watercourses.
She additionally called on Somerset Council to address culvert clearance, along with small streams and ditches, proactively to minimise future flood risk.
She concluded: “When are we going to get help from these organisations, and when can we expect the work to start?”
EA representative Ross Edwards confirmed the Atkins report’s recommendations were being progressed, including a local flood alleviation scheme – though cautioned it might be considerable time before residents witnessed tangible progress.
He said: “Flood alleviations take about a decade to come to fruition – I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but we’ve started that process and are moving forward.
“FWAG is already engaged and is in dialogue with local farmers – one of our officers was out there yesterday [March 19] with the local MP [Adam Dance].
“You have identified that you as a community have taken some action yourself. Don’t be held back by us, because that makes a difference as well.
“The council has got this on its priority list, so it’s a matter of securing the money. There are lots of priorities and we are discussing those now.”
Mr Edwards explained that the EA had obtained government funding for modelling work within the River Isle catchment, which will establish the options for future flood prevention schemes.
This research will conclude before April 2028 – with the EA then needing to obtain additional funding to deliver its selected scheme.
James Divall, the council’s head of service for climate and the natural environment, confirmed that the council’s highways team would be undertaking work alongside Station Road during the summer to deliver some short-term benefits to local residents.
He stated: “We’ve commissioned work on Station Road for the ditch clearance and route ingress there.
“We’re trying to get the time-scale finalised, and we’ll come back to the town council as soon as possible with that, but we’re hoping that will be done within three to six months, ideally sooner.
“We’ve got a number of actions which have been divided up between different agencies – one of which was supporting the local residents and the town council around an SRA community grant for the river clearance needed at the rear of the estate.”
