Over the weekend Hurstbourne Tarrant’s Parish councillors and residents got together to install a concrete gulley across the track on Dene Green as part of the flood mitigation works. The dedicated team turned up on a cold Sunday morning with their own tools and expertise, with the aim to improve the village flooding for all residents.
In the past, Dene Green has flooded and sent a lot of water down the A343. The cost to resurface the road after 2014’s floods was almost £100k according to Hurstbourne Parish Council.
The Report put together but the Hurstbourne Parish council after the flooding in 2014 stated that, “Some houses and The George & Dragon [pub] were flooded in 2014 partly as the result of blocked culverts, ditches and road drains, but also due to the unusually heavy and sustained rainfall (exceedance). Annual maintenance of culverts, ditches and road drains should prevent many of their problems in future, but there may be other relatively cost-effective measures which could assist, such as realignment of kerbs.”
It was also emphasised that Hurstbourne Tarrant is in a water-catchment basin rather than a flood plain, meaning all the rain which falls within the basin will eventually flow through the village.
In 2015 the Royal Engineers (under their military aid to the civil community service) installed the new ditch, so it’s hoped that in conjunction with this new gulley, water from the Netherton Valley (historically known as the River Dene – is diverted towards the pipe under the road and doesn’t fill the Green.
It is estimated that by the local community pulling together to carry out this work is has saved the public purse about £600 in labour costs.
