Second stage of Severn Trent flood resilience work under way in Mansfield town centre

The town is set to be transformed over the next couple of years and will see communities “more resilient” against the increasing threat of flooding from climate change, population growth and urban development.

Severn Trent is installing Sustainable Drainage Systems across the town – an environmentally friendly way of slowing surface water down by storing and filtering it before returning it to the sewer network, meaning it is not overwhelmed in storm events.

Phase two of the town centre works is now unde rway, with two rain gardens being installed on Market Street that will be capable of storing 30,000 litres of rainwater during storms. The work is due to be completed in early Autumn.

Adam Boucher, from Severn Trent, said: “We’re delighted to be making great progress on this important project to develop a greener, cleaner vision for Mansfield and reduce the flood risk for 90,000 local people.

“When these rain gardens are in full bloom, they will make the town centre a much more pleasant place to live, work and visit, while reducing flood risk.

“SuDS like rain gardens also have a secondary benefit of holding water back from our sewer network in storm events.

"Taking pressure off the network like this will mean that we reduce the need for storm overflow activations, thus improving river health locally, which supports our Get River Positive commitment that our operations will not be the reason for unhealthy rivers by 2030.”

Coun Andy Burgin, Mansfield Council portfolio holder for environment and leisure, said: “The innovative Severn Trent programme fits perfectly with our ambitious plans to ‘green up’ Mansfield.

“These gardens bring endless benefits to our communities, alleviate the growing risk of flooding, and make Mansfield cleaner and greener.

“I am confident as the roll-out of these rain gardens continues it will help make Mansfield more attractive and encourage people to spend more time in the town centre for the benefit of the local economy, our residents and visitors.”