People living on a Mansfield street fear their properties will be devalued because of a £76 million Severn Trent project in the town. The water company announced in 2021 it was investing the money in Mansfield to protect communities from flooding.
It will do this through a range of initiatives including permeable paving, where holes allow water to pass through into the ground beneath, and rain gardens, which use plants and soil to slow the flow of rainwater. Severn Trent says when its Mansfield scheme is complete, it will be able to store more than 58 million litres of surface water.
One of the most significant aspects of the Green Recovery programme is the building of a huge rain garden outside The Court House in the centre of Mansfield. But the scheme first began on a pilot basis in the Ravenshead area and people living there have now expressed concerns about the project.
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Some of those living in Hibbert Road, Mansfield, have been told they will have rain gardens installed on the pavements outside their own properties this month. But some of the residents said they were given just days of notice about the work and that it will affect their ability to park.
Residents living in Hibbert Road there say they have always parked on its wide pavement but because parts of it will be covered by the planned rain gardens, some will no longer be able to do so. Severn Trent says it has the authority to install the rain gardens under the Water Industry Act.
Ewa Kulisz, 32, lives in one of the affected properties and said: "When we first moved here in August, there were spaces for two cars but now we are going to lose one of those spaces. We are looking to buy our second car now but I don't know where it is going to go.
"It is too dangerous to put it on the road because it is narrow and it's dangerous to be getting my children out of the car. The car would also probably be damaged very quickly because people come down the road very fast.
"I don't think there is enough room for everyone to put their cars on the road anyway so it is just going to be impossible for us to park both cars. I think it is unfair because we purchased this house thinking that we would have this parking and now it looks like we won't and the value of our property will probably go down because of this."
Julie Tremayne, 59, is the landlord of one of the affected properties but was soon planning to move back into it herself. She said: "There was a community meeting about this last year but the plans were not detailed at all and they seem to have changed since then anyway.
"Since then we were asking for details and not hearing anything until we had a knock on the door on January 24. My daughter managed to catch the person as they were walking down the road and they said that Severn Trent were starting the building of a rain garden outside the property on February 6."
Severn Trent says it did send letters and share social media posts about its scheme, but Julie Tremayne says she never received any previous warning about the specific work taking place outside her property. She says an application has now been made to Nottinghamshire County Council for a dropped kerb so that she will still be able to park outside her property.
A highways manager from Nottinghamshire County Council said: "The proposed Rain Garden works on Hibbert Road in Mansfield are being undertaken by Severn Trent Water as part of their £76m project to reduce flood risk, which will reduce the impact of flooding on local water courses, and bring more plant and animal species into the area.
"Having spoken to colleagues there, we understand that these works have been placed on hold while we assess the dropped kerb application. This will be reviewed as soon as possible."
Severn Trent has agreed to pause its work on Hibbert Road until concerns have been resolved. Julie Tremayne added: "I need to park outside the property because I am disabled and that doesn't seem to have been taken into account.
"I just think this is total incompetence because they've been given £76 million for this project, so how come they couldn't afford a 90p stamp to post a letter telling us well in advance what was happening. I have been here since the 80s and I bought it from the council in the 90s and in all that time, people have always parked on the pavement.
"It is very quiet in the day when everyone is at work and it looks like there won't be a problem. But at night, the pavements are full and there just isn't going to be enough room for everyone to get their cars parked down here if this goes ahead."
Severn Trent's programme in Mansfield is 10 times larger than anything similar that has been previously trialled in the UK. The company says that by the end of the project in 2025, 177 'interventions' will have been delivered near the town centre.
The company says its project will protect 90,000 people from flooding but that it considered "a range of technical and practical constraints" before deciding where best to deliver it. A Severn Trent spokesperson added: "We're excited to be bringing sustainable drainage to Mansfield, as this £76 million investment will bring huge benefits, including reducing the risk of flooding to those living in the community.
"Ahead of work starting, we sent letters, posted on social media and held a community meeting for people living in the area to find out about our plans, but we fully understand Ms Tremayne's concerns. As soon as we were made aware, our teams met with Ms Tremayne and stopped work immediately.
"We’re incredibly sorry for any upset that’s been caused, until this is resolved we have postponed this work and will continue to engage with Ms Tremayne and our partners on a way forward."
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