Taunton Odeon flooding could become thing of the past

The Old River Tone flows under the railway line near the Bathpool area of Taunton, entering the main river within the Hankridge Nature Reserve near the town's Odeon cinema and Hollywood Bowl bowling alley.

During flooding events, when the River Tone is swollen, an outfall flap automatically closes to limit the release of flood water from the Bathpool area - something which the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) has claimed can cause "extensive property flooding" during extreme weather events, such as Storm Chandra.

The Environment Agency (EA) has attempted to alleviate this problem using temporary pumps, which can be installed north of the railway line when needed and removed afterwards.

The SRA has now allocated additional funding towards permanent electric pumps at this location, with the EA promising to push the business case with central government over the next 12 months.

The Old River Tone outflow into the River Tone in Taunton (Image: Daniel Mumby)

This improvement was originally identified as part of the Taunton strategic flood alleviation improvements scheme (TSFAIS), which will see £6m spent in early-2027 to deliver defensive concrete walls erected on two sections of the River Tone in the town centre.

The SRA subsequently funded further studies and allocated £150,000 towards the new Bathpool pumps when its board met in Yeovil in early-March, on top of £550,000 already secured from local housing developments.

The same board voted in Bridgwater on June 5 to allocate a further £100,000 towards the project - a move welcomed by Paul Elliston, a former West Monkton parish councillor.

He said: "West Monkton Parish Council would like to take this opportunity to thank the board for previously agreeing to the financial contribution of £150,000 towards the Bathpool pumping improvement project.

"The parish council notes that a further £100,000 has been considered, and we support this additional contribution to expedite the completion of the project, to reduce the risk to properties.

"Bathpool was flooded in January, and we would like to share the full scope of the project with residents, along with what has changed or been updated since January, and the anticipated time-scales and the completion of the project."

The EA clarified following the meeting that it had already shared the full scope of the project with the parish meeting and was holding regular meetings to keep them updated.

The additional funding was originally part of £350,000 allocated by the SRA in its annual budget towards additional drain jetting and gully clearing, on top of existing maintenance carried out by Somerset Council.

The council effectively superseded this announcement in April by allocating £5m for "high-visibility" highways improvements, freeing up the SRA funding to be used on other projects.

In addition to the £100,000 of additional funding for the Bathpool pumps, an additional £30,000 will be provided for "main river maintenance" work over the next 12 months, with the Somerset Drainage Board Consortium taking on work originally handled by the EA before its funding was cut.

The remainder of the £350,000 originally allocated will be split between two new projects outside of the Taunton area - one for slowing the flow of water around Frome and Witham Friary (£26,500) and one for community flood investigation reports for other communities at high risk of flooding (£20,000).

Environment Agency representative Ross Edwards at the Somerset Rivers Authority board meeting in Yeovil in March 2026 (Image: Daniel Mumby)

EA representative Ross Edwards said: "Bathpool was one of the worst affected areas in the recent flood. A Section 19 report [investigating the causes of flooding] has been commissioned.

"What we do currently it put in temporary pumps when we can, but if we get the finance and get the business case approved, we will be putting in permanent pumps in at Bathpool, which I think the community is keen to see.

"We can't commit at the moment to time-scales, because we haven't got our supplier on board. We're confident that we will run through the business case over the next 12 months.

"When we've got certainty over time-scales, we will share that with the community."