Construction on the £9.5m flood management scheme will better protect 333 homes and businesses from flooding and enable the regeneration of Stoke town centre, the environment agency have said.

Following a public drop-in session held at the Potbank on Elenora Street, residents have had the chance to look at the plans and ask Environment Agency officers questions about the scheme.

The planned scheme, which is expected to start in October, has already seen preparation work started on the site. Work will concentrate on a 500m stretch of the watercourse between the Shelton Old Road and the Civic Centre.

Much of the cost is down to the fact that there is not much area between the brook and existing buildings which mean it is harder for the Environment Agency to carry out the work.

Environment Agency Flood Risk Team Leader for the West Midlands, Mark Swain, said "While properties in the area have thankfully not flooded since 1997, there is a high risk of flash flooding and water levels can increase by more than a metre in 15 minutes, particularly during summer thunderstorms as we saw in July 2021."

Stoke MP Jo Gideon met with representatives from the Environmental Agency (LDRS).

"This scheme will help to better protect the area from the devastating impact of flooding and make it more resilient to effects of climate change. It will also enable the area to be regenerated and help to create up to 570 jobs."

Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon commented on the scheme: "Everyone in Stoke knows flooding is a problem and people may not be aware of the extent of the floodplain around Fowlea Brook which has meant that it wasn't possible to build out residential areas.

"This flood risk management project is an essential piece of work which will unlock large areas of land into productive use which is just what we need."

Construction work on this complex scheme is expected to start in October and will take approximately two years to complete.

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