National award for innovative nature-based approach to Corvedale flooding project

Shropshire Council, along with WSP, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Cardiff University, have won the ‘Studies and Research’ category for the prestigious ICE West Midlands Awards 2022.

The organisations celebrated their success at the ICE West Midlands Awards held last week. The awards provide an opportunity to celebrate all aspects of civil engineering and are presented to the best civil engineering projects, people and ground-breaking research across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.

The award was presented to the partnership for their impactful study: The Shropshire Slow the Flow (SStF) Natural Flood Management (NFM) Project. This project, which was carried out in the Corvedale catchment in Shropshire, utilised nature-based approaches to flooding, including instream wood structures known as leaky barriers, to help reduce flood risk, improve biodiversity, whilst also supporting partnership and community working.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for climate change, natural assets and the green economy, said: “We are thrilled that The Shropshire Slow the Flow (SStF) Natural Flood Management (NFM) Project has won its category at the ICE West Midlands Award.

“This is partnership working at its best. Utilising the skills, knowledge and techniques of all organisations involved, our project clearly demonstrates that our research is highly recognised within the industry and is going to be used for years to come in terms of natural flood and flood risk management.

“Winning such an award further strengthens our resolve to increase our resilience to the climate emergency through engineering projects that are balanced with environmental benefits and working with the community.”

“I would like to say a huge congratulations to our highways team, WSP, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Cardiff University for this groundbreaking project.”