July 15, 2026
Defra officials visit Brigstock
This week, we welcomed a group of flood professionals from Defra to Northamptonshire to showcase some of the work being delivered across the Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook catchments. Throughout the day, they were able to see how Property Flood Resilience (PFR), community preparedness and Natural Flood Management (NFM) are being brought together to create a more resilient future for local communities.
The visit began at Harpers Court in Brigstock, an independent living scheme owned by Amplius, where attendees were shown how a combination of carefully designed Property Flood Resilience measures has helped improve the resilience of the building.
Working alongside installation partner Watertight International, we demonstrated many of the measures that have been installed throughout the property, before carrying out live wet tests to show exactly how the flood windows and barriers perform when faced with 600mm of water.
We even saw Juan Scouller, Head of Flood Risk, Resilience and Insurance Policy from Defra, volunteer to install one of the barriers himself to experience just how straightforward they are to put in place.
More than physical measures
While physical resilience measures are an important part of the picture, the visit also highlighted the work that has taken place to help residents feel prepared and supported.
Residents have received a flood preparedness box and can access to personalised flood plans and local alerts through the Resilico digital platform, enabling them to understand exactly what actions to take before, during and after a flood. The app also helps residents manage ongoing maintenance of their resilience measures.
The Defra team also heard how local volunteers from the village have become ‘flood buddies’, providing additional support to Harpers Court residents should flooding ever occur.
The visit continued to nearby homes where residents shared their own personal experiences of living with PFR. They talked through the install process, and how the measures are helping them to feel more comfortable and confident in their own homes.ย It’s always very humbling to hear the impact the works is having on people’s day to day lives.
Looking beyond individual properties
After lunch at Brigstock Village Hall, kindly hosted by Sally Wilks, the group headed to Rush Meadow Ponds to explore another important part of the RAIN project – Natural Flood Management.
Here, our project manager, Sarah Parr, alongside Lee Gower from Nene Rivers Trust explained how interventions across the landscape can help slow the flow of water before it reaches communities downstream.
Landowner Hugh Shrive also shared why he chose to adapt parts of his land to support neighbouring villages and the wider catchment – while also boosting biodiversity habitats. Modelling indicates that the NFM measures in the surrounding area are projected to reduce peak river levels by around 9cm.
Although that may sound like a relatively modest reduction, in flood risk management it can be significant. Those few centimetres can make the difference between flood water entering a property or remaining below the doorstep. When replicated across multiple locations throughout a catchment, these interventions create a cumulative effect that contributes to improving flood resilience across entire communities.
The group enjoyed walking around the meadows – and we were lucky to spot many dragonflies, damselflies and red kites during our walk (and also a friendly cattle herd!).
A collaborative approach
The visit demonstrated that improving flood resilience is about far more than any single intervention.
Whether it is installing Property Flood Resilience measures, helping residents to ‘be flood ready’, supporting communities through local volunteers or working with nature to slow the flow of water upstream, every element plays a key role. Every piece of the resilience jigsaw creates the bigger picture.
Our thanks go to everyone who took the time and joined the visit from Defra, as well as our project partners including Watertight International, JBA Consulting, HR Wallingford, Amplius, the Environment Agency, Nene Rivers Trust, and Mary Long-Dhonau OBE.
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The RAIN Project is funded by Defra as part of the ยฃ200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes, which is managed by the Environment Agency. The programmes will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.
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Wetlands are often discussed in relation to flooding: their ability to hold water within the landscape, slow its flow and reduce the pressure placed on communities downstream, however, their value does not disappear when the rain stops.
During the latest spell of exceptionally hot, dry weather, Rush Meadow Ponds at Brigstock have continued to perform well. The natural flood management scheme, created on land owned by local farmer Hugh Shrive, comprises five connected ponds designed to capture and temporarily store water within the landscape.
Despite the prolonged dry conditions, water remains within the ponds, while the surrounding vegetation is noticeably green and thriving.
It provides a great local example of how working with natural processes can help us to create landscapes that are more resilient to both ends of the weather spectrum.
Rush Meadow Ponds were created as part of RAINโs wider programme of natural flood management across the Harpers Brook catchment. By creating additional space in which water can collect and move more slowly, features such as ponds and wetlands can help to reduce the speed and volume of water travelling downstream following heavy rainfall.
But retaining more water within the landscape can also provide important benefits during periods of lower rainfall. While surrounding land becomes increasingly dry, the ponds at Rush Meadow continue to hold water. This supports the surrounding vegetation, while providing valuable habitat and a water source for wildlife when other areas may be struggling.
The contrast is a visible reminder of the wider role wetlands can play in helping our countryside adapt to a changing climate.
A recent article from The Wildlife Trusts highlights just how much water has historically been drained from the British landscape and argues that restoring wetlands and other natural features must form part of our response to hotter summers, drought and wildfire.
What we are seeing at Rush Meadow brings that national discussion to life here in Northamptonshire.
As our climate continues to change, communities are likely to experience longer dry periods alongside more intense rainfall. These challenges cannot be considered separately. Instead, we must consider how our landscape can capture water when it is plentiful, retain it for longer and release it more gradually.
No single intervention will provide the whole answer, however Rush Meadow Ponds demonstrate how natural flood management can form part of a more joined-up approach – helping to manage flood risk, support nature and build resilience to prolonged dry weather.
The scheme also highlights what can be achieved through collaboration with farmers and landowners such as Hugh, who make it possible to introduce natural flood management measures in the places where they can deliver meaningful benefits.
Sometimes the value of a flood resilience measure becomes most visible when it has hardly rained at all.