Severn Trent has completed its £76m project in Mansfield that aimed to make the town more flood resilient.

Since 2022, the water company installed 343 sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), adding more than 31 million litres of capacity to the sewerage network that runs underneath the town.

The project, which was the first of its kind to be done in the UK, has been designed to help the town’s sewer networks cope better during bad weather by storing rainwater or infiltrating it into the ground.

To celebrate completing the project, Severn Trent held an event to give back some allotment space in Mansfield Woodhouse.

The company, working in partnership with Mansfield District Council and construction partner CPC Civils, began work on an area of the allotments that had become disused and overgrown, fitting one of its largest SuDS, laying a new access road, and cutting back overgrown land to create more plots for the community to use.

The work created eight new plots, all of which have been taken up by residents. Severn Trent also installed a detention basin, with the capacity to store almost 400m³ of rainwater, equivalent to 1,153 bathtubs.

At the handover event. Ady Selby, assistant director for neighbourhoods at the council, said: “The council is working with key partners and, together, we are leading the way to alleviate surface water flooding sustainably, while increasing biodiversity and making green spaces more useful.

“People have already spent a lot of time getting used to their plots and planting different flowers and vegetables. It’s brought a previously disused and overgrown area back into community use.”

Adam Boucher, operations lead for Mansfield Green Recovery, added: “We’re thrilled to have finished this project in Mansfield, which has not only taken a huge amount of capacity away from our sewerage network, but also alleviated flood risk for thousands of people across Mansfield.

“The Newcastle Street allotments work is just one example over the past three years of how, working with Mansfield District Council, we have come together to provide extra support to the community.

“While we have finished the build element of this project, you’ll still see Severn Trent around as we’ll be maintaining our SuDS for years to come.”