Ham (2021)

Ham Village celebrates after receiving £7,500 from the National Lottery, Somerset Prepared and Larkfleet Homes for flood resilience.

Ham is a small community of only 38 homes some of which are at risk of flooding due to its location on the River Tone. Thanks to significant investment by the Environment Agency in 2008/09 the village flood defences were improved to a 1 in 100 year standard of protection, with raised defences and surface water pumps. But the village wanted to do more to actively prepare for events which might compromise these defences, such as powercuts or equipment failure.

In an effort to improve the resilience of the village and minimise its call on emergency services support, the village came together to prepare a flood plan. The plan identifies

the most likely triggers of flooding risk and the equipment that can help to manage those risks. Now, thanks to National Lottery Players, multiple-agencies in Somerset and a house builder investing in local communities, it has the equipment it needs to put the plan into action.

The Ham Village Flood Defence Committee has secured the funding for: two mobile water pumps which will each move 1800 litres of water per minute; two phase 3 generators which can be deployed to keep the fixed surface water pumps operational should mains power fail; LED flood lighting; 100 hydro sacks and 25 hydro snakes; as well as hi-vis and PPE equipment to identify the committee members who will act as the community incident coordinators.

For more information on establishing a scheme such as that seen in Ham and the support available to help, see the related links or get in touch.