News
« Return to News28 November 2014
Holnicote Project Features in House Of Lords Debate
PAA’s Holnicote Project was referenced by Labour peer Lord Stone during a House Of Lords debate on UK flood defences on Wednesday evening (26/11/14). Lord Stone gave good support for soft engineering approaches to flood defence, presenting the Holnicote Project as an example of flood risk reduction using ‘natural flood management’. The whole debate can be viewed on the UK parliament website www.parliament.uk, Lord Stone’s input starts in Column GC323 at 7.26pm
The project is also featured in the recent RSPB report ‘Flooding in Focus’, in which Helen Dangerfield of The National Trust presents the Holnicote Project as an example of working with nature to manage flood risk, and examines the value of restoring the natural functions of rivers and floodplains. Helen concludes there is a need to ‘engage people in catchment-scale work, to manage land and rivers through continued active demonstration and clear communication’. The full report can be viewed on the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk
Holnicote is one of three national demonstration projects to investigate how changing land management on a catchment scale may positively influence flood risk.
With sponsorship from the National Trust, Defra and the Environment Agency the project has already improved drainage from the surrounding Exmoor uplands, and more recently the floodplain of the Aller has been sculptured to retain flood waters for longer.
With significant support from the local farming community the River Aller will now be more connected to the adjacent meadows creating improved habitat and summer grazing as well as providing temporary storage of river flood waters. Other schemes within the catchment include reversion of arable land to pasture and the creation of wet woodlands. Together these various changes in land use and management will influence the scale and timing of flooding and should provide evidence in support of making similar changes to catchments elsewhere in the UK.
You can download the Holnicote Project Position Paper, or contact us if you are interested in finding out more information on the Holnicote Project.
Please feel free to download one of our fliers below for information on related services provided by PAA: