West of Chichester Flood Alleviation Scheme

Have your say

We’re working on a flood alleviation scheme for the Parklands area and want to hear from you. We have prepared a short survey to find out your experiences of flooding in the East Broyle and Parklands Estates on the western edge of Chichester and to hear what you think. Your feedback is extremely valuable as it helps us better understand the existing flood challenges, identify the options that appeal most to you, and develop proposals that are more likely to secure funding.

The survey is open until Sunday 28 December.

We will also be hosting a community engagement event from 4.30pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday 9 December at St Wilfrid's Church, Sherborne Rd, Chichester PO19 3AG. This will give you the chance to find out more, discuss the different options in more detail, ask questions and share your thoughts and opinions on the plans with members of the project team.

Why do we need the scheme?

Flooding has been a long-running issue in parts of Parklands and East Broyle. When heavy rain falls, water runs off the land and into drains, but the current drainage system can’t always cope. This can lead to water pooling on roads, traffic disruption and, in severe cases, homes being flooded.

One major example was in June 2012, when 110mm (nearly 4 and a half inches) of rain fell in a 28-hour period – something that statistically happens only around once every 200 years.

Where is this happening?

The “project area” covers the East Broyle and Parklands Estates on the western edge of Chichester. It focuses on the lower part of Parklands Estate, where homes are most at risk of flooding. This includes streets such as Neville Road, Wilson Close, Langdon Road, Sherborne Road, Sherlock Avenue, St Wilfrid Road, Oswald Court and Oliver Whitby Road.

What have we done so far?

We started by looking at the whole “catchment” – the area where rainwater naturally collects and flows. This approach helps us understand how water moves across the entire local area, not just in one street or postcode.

By studying the entire catchment, we can find solutions that work together, rather than fixing one problem while maybe creating another one elsewhere.

From this analysis, we’ve created a longlist of possible options to reduce flood risk in the Parklands area. These range from improving drainage systems to using nature-based solutions like extra planted areas that slow down water flow. Each option aims to make flooding less frequent and less severe.

What are the options?

We started with a wide range of ideas to manage rainwater and reduce flooding in the local area. After assessing each option for effectiveness and practicality we have narrowed them down to a shortlist of three which is shown below.

You may find the Glossary of common flood management terms (opens in a new window) useful when assessing these options.

Option 1. Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) - green spaces

Using existing green areas (like parks and other open spaces) to help manage rainwater. This means adding features that slow down and store water like:

• Shallow grass channels (called swales) that guide water and let it soak into the ground.
• Small hollows (called attenuation basins) that temporarily hold water during heavy rain to reduce flooding.

Option 2. All SuDS combined plus rural source control

A mix of SuDS measures to manage rainwater across streets, homes and green spaces. These include:

• Rain gardens and planted areas that soak up water.
• Special paving that lets water drain through (known as permeable paving).
• Kerbside drains that guide water away safely.

The option would also focus on taking action in the rural areas to the north of Parklands to soak away and slow water before it reaches built-up areas.

Measures would include adding small earth banks (called bunds) to hold back water, creating drains that cross tracks to redirect flow, and farming techniques like ploughing along the contour of the land to reduce run-off.

Option 3. All SuDS combined plus drainage network improvements

A mix of features to manage rainwater in streets, gardens and green spaces, plus improvements to the drainage network to help water flow more effectively.

These would include: relining/ injection grouting of defective pipework, new drainage pipe connections at Neville Road, upgrades to soakaways at Oak Avenue, Sherborne Road and Cedar Drive, and additional gullies along Oliver Whitby Road.

What’s next?

We’ll review these three options in more detail, considering issues like cost, effectiveness and community impact.

Your feedback will help shape which solution or solutions move forward.