After serious flooding caused damage to two homes in a village near Bath last year, measures to prevent it from happening again have been drawn up following advice from the Environment Agency.
On 4th January 2024, high flows caused serious flooding in Dunkirk Mill at Rosemary Lane in Freshford, which also comprises Middle House.
Two floors of both properties were flooded, and the restoration works are still ongoing.
The Grade II-listed former cloth mill is in a valley containing a tributary of the River Frome, which discharges into the river at Freshford.
A flood relief channel is being proposed, which will allow low flows to continue through the mill pond, but higher flows will bypass the pond and homes and flow through the garden, mimicking the route take by the watercourse during last year’s flood, but diverted around the mill building.
Both planning and listed building consent are being sought from Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The deadline for comments is 29th August. The planning reference is 25/02798/FUL.
