STORM BABET: County council states Horncastle's flooding system "needs a proper review" as it's clear "it didn’t work in the way it needed to"

Storm Babet has caused widespread flooding in Horncastle and surrounding villages including Tattershall, Kirkby on Bain, and Woodhall Spa after Lincolnshire saw the equivalent of two months’ worth of rain falling in less than 24 hours on Friday (October 20).

Horncastle was the subject of an £8.1million Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) in 2017, along with Louth, following the floods of summer 2007, when more than 200 properties in the area were flooded.

The Horncastle FAS consists of a single flood storage reservoir on the River Bain, upstream of Horncastle town centre, and a number of residents whose homes are at risk of flooding from the river Waring were offered property-level flood protection, such as air brick covers and flood doors.

Now Coun Colin Davie, executive member for environment at Lincolnshire County Council, has called for a “proper review” of the FAS and an investigation into how the flooding occurred as it “looks like the system didn’t work in the way it needed to”:

“We are still dealing with the affects of Storm Babet in Lincolnshire, and the two months’ worth of rain that fell on the county in 24 hours is still working its way through the system,” he said, “And while we continue to collect all the information about flooding incidents, it’s clear there is a need to investigate what happened in Horncastle.

“Flooding is a dreadful thing to happen to any community; it can devastate businesses and ruin homes. Every property that is flooded will be investigated as a matter of course.

"But there also needs to be a proper review of the flood alleviation scheme in Horncastle, as it looks like the system didn’t work in the way it needed to.

“The Environment Agency, who operate the flood defence scheme, will be looking to make sure it was operated in the way that it should be, and whether there are any changes that can be made to the way the system works to better protect the town.

“We will continue to work with the Environment Agency, and our other partners, to protect every home and business in Lincolnshire to the very best of our ability.”

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency has said that the flood scheme has been operating, and that a review of the incident response would take place once the flooding incident subsides.

“We are aware of concerns regarding the operation of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme.

“Our current priority remains emergency response working with the Lincolnshire Local Resilience Forum. We will review our incident response and asset operation once the incident abates and we move out of the emergency phase.”