Flooding a ticking time bomb - showground boss

The chief executive of an agricultural showground said flooding is a "ticking time bomb" and called for more to be done to prevent it.

Ian Bebbington said the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had suffered five major floods in the last 10 years and it was costing thousands of pounds to repair the damage each time.

The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme, a partnership between organisations including the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council, called a meeting in the town on Wednesday to discuss the issue of flooding.

Mr Bebbington said he wanted housebuilding on flood-plains to be looked at and more dredging of rivers.

He said the showground was "a huge asset to Shrewsbury" and that "they'll only miss it when it's gone".

His team is preparing to clean up the site, to get it ready for more events in the spring, including the 150th year of the Shropshire County Agricultural Show.

But he said it might come to a point where it was more cost-effective to clear the site and run it without any facilities.

Asked what message he wanted to send to the meeting in Shrewsbury, he said there needed to be an acknowledgement that flooding was getting worse.

He said: "It's just like a volcano, we've had the warnings and we're going to get the big one."

David McKnight, from the Environment Agency, agreed the situation was becoming worse.

"I think sadly we've seen a real shift, an increase in the frequency and the type of flooding over the past five or so years," he said.

Reacting to floods was becoming "more and more challenging" he added, and he explained the water management scheme was looking for new solutions.

He said that would still include defences which were built by organisations but also "nature-based solutions" such as planting more trees and creating more flood plains and holding pools.

Mr McKnight added, while dredging always came up at meetings like the one in Shrewsbury, "it doesn't necessarily reduce flood risk in the way we might want it to".

He said it was "part of a whole toolbox" rather than the solution to the problem but it was also "not always economically viable".

Mr McKnight said he hoped there would be a good turn out to the meeting at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, to hear what people's priorities were.

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