Work has started on a nature restoration project outside Shrewsbury that is hoped will reduce the effects of flooding.

The scheme at the National Trust’s Attingham Park estate is being supported by the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS).

The work will see wetlands created, lost ponds restored, and new trees planted.

It is hoped it will allow an extra 22,000 cubic metres of water to be stored at the estate, slowing the flow of water during floods.

It is one of eight demonstrator projects by SVWMS, funded by the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, testing whether nature-based approaches can reduce the effects of flooding in the upper Severn catchment.

Pete Lambert, the demonstrator project manager for the organisation, said the work would drive research and establish how land and water management might be shaped.

National Trust project manager Jane Birch said: “We’re delighted to be receiving funding through the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme to help us to ramp up our ambitions for nature recovery at Attingham Estate.

“By demonstrating how to harness the power of nature to improve water management across a complex landscape we hope to inspire wider adoption of similar approaches.”

Trystan Jones
BBC News, West Midlands

BBC Shropshire