Flood Risk Assessment in Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent grew up at a crossing point on the River Trent, and the river has never let the town forget it. Unda prepares flood risk assessments in Newark-on-Trent for planning, property purchase, mortgage and insurance, and BREEAM, alongside sequential and exception tests and surface-water drainage strategies (SuDS), each built around Environment Agency, Nottinghamshire County Council and Newark & Sherwood District Council data specific to the site.

Speak to one of our experienced flood risk consultants on 01293 214444 or enquiries@unda.co.uk, or start a quote and we will respond within 60 minutes.

In January 2024, Storm Henk pushed the Trent to a record level just north of Newark-on-Trent, higher than the previous benchmark set in November 2000 — proof that flood risk here is measured in centuries, not just recent winters.

• Primary watercourse. The River Trent, joined at Newark by the River Devon, the Winter Beck and the River Smite.
• Historic flooding. Major recorded floods in 1795, October 1875, November 2000 and January 2024 (Storm Henk).
• Local planning authority. Newark and Sherwood District Council, with Nottinghamshire County Council as the separate Lead Local Flood Authority.
• Growth area. The 694-acre Middlebeck urban extension south of the town, planned for up to 3,150 homes.
• Groundwater. Parts of the district sit on the Sherwood Sandstone, a source national flood maps do not show.

Check flood risk anywhere in Newark-on-Trent

Enter a postcode in Newark-on-Trent or the surrounding parishes below to see Environment Agency flood data for that exact spot — river and sea risk, surface water, reservoirs and the 2070–2125 climate change extent — plus any live flood warnings. The Newark and Sherwood district is outlined in coral, and you can check your own address on our free flood risk map or the live river levels map at any time.

Flood risk in Newark-on-Trent: the Trent, the Devon and surface water

Newark-on-Trent's flood risk is dominated by the River Trent, which the Devon, the Winter Beck and the River Smite all join within a few miles of the town, so a rise on any one of those catchments can arrive at the same time as a Trent peak. Surface water in the older streets, and groundwater rising through the Sherwood Sandstone to the north and west of the district, add two further sources a flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent has to read alongside the river.

• The River Trent. The river runs through the centre of the town, close to Newark Castle and the riverside, with defended stretches sitting in Flood Zone 3 on the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning and undefended land beyond them.
• The River Devon. Rising in the Leicestershire Wolds and flowing north through Nottinghamshire, the Devon joins the Trent at Newark, adding a second, fast-responding catchment immediately upstream of the confluence.
• The Winter Beck and the River Smite. Both join the Trent's west bank a short distance above the town, so heavy rain over Sherwood Forest and the Vale of Belvoir can add to a Trent peak within hours.
• Surface water. The Kelham Road and Lime Grove areas have flooded from surcharged sewers and overwhelmed drains rather than a direct river overtopping, which is why a surface-water and sewer review matters as much as the river position.
• Groundwater and the Sherwood Sandstone. The aquifer beneath the north and west of the district can raise groundwater levels independently of surface rainfall, a source national flood maps do not show; our groundwater flood risk assessment service and free geology and ground conditions checker both look at this specifically.

Every one of these sources needs modelling to the Environment Agency's 2070–2125 climate change allowances, not just today's mapped extent, since a scheme approved now has to stay safe for its whole lifetime.

A history of flooding in Newark-on-Trent

Flooding is not a new hazard here. The Trent's largest recorded flood struck in 1795, when the river breached the Spalford bank downstream of the town; the second-largest followed in October 1875, a flood still recalled locally as one where the water lay deep enough across the fields that, as local record has it, boys from the town's grammar school were able to row a boat across the flooded countryside towards the village of Kelham. The river returned to Newark-on-Trent in November 2000, in the widespread flooding that affected much of the Midlands that autumn, and that benchmark stood until Storm Henk arrived on 2 January 2024, when the Trent reached a record level just north of the town, surpassing even the November 2000 flood.

Storm Henk caused internal flooding to 32 properties in Newark-on-Trent, concentrated in three separate areas: Farndon Road, Kelham Road and Lime Grove. Nottinghamshire County Council's Section 19 investigation attributed the Kelham Road flooding to the floodplain interacting with the public sewer network, and recorded an unresolved question over whether works at the Middlebeck development to the south of the town had contributed to the Farndon Road flooding, a point the Environment Agency has described as inconclusive. On the day, the Environment Agency issued three separate flood warnings for the town — covering Tolney Lane and the riverside marinas, the Sugar Factory and Kelham Bridge, and Newark's riverside properties — while Nottinghamshire County Council closed 69 roads across the county to keep drivers away from flood water.

Flood defences and drainage in Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent is not undefended, but its protection is a patchwork of river, sewer and highway measures rather than a single scheme, which is why a site-specific assessment still has to check each source in turn rather than rely on the presence of a defence alone.

• Kelham Road Flood Alleviation Scheme. Completed in 2016, this scheme improved flood defences protecting properties near the Trent along Kelham Road.
• Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board. Formed in 2012 from the merger of several drainage districts including the former Newark Area Internal Drainage District, the board manages around 778km of watercourse and 18 pumping stations across its area, from its base at the Newark Beacon.
• Brewers Wharf pumping. During Storm Henk, Environment Agency teams over-pumped flood water at Brewers Wharf and cleared blockages before and after the peak flow.
• Middlebeck drainage ponds. The Southern Link Road serving the Middlebeck development carries a series of attenuation ponds designed to manage the site's surface water and take pressure off the town's existing drainage network.
• Severn Trent Water. Following Storm Henk, Severn Trent is investigating options to increase flood resilience on its sewer network along Kelham Road.

Planning policy and your Lead Local Flood Authority in Newark-on-Trent

Newark and Sherwood District Council is the local planning authority for Newark-on-Trent, and Nottinghamshire County Council holds the separate role of Lead Local Flood Authority, so a planning application here typically has to satisfy both, alongside the Environment Agency.

• Newark and Sherwood District Council. Maintains a district-wide Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (Level 1), which covers the tidal-influenced stretch of the Trent between Cromwell Weir and Gainsborough that Newark-on-Trent sits within, and uses it to inform planning decisions.
• Nottinghamshire County Council. The Lead Local Flood Authority under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010; carries out Section 19 flood investigations and reviews surface-water drainage strategies as a statutory planning consultee.
• Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board. A statutory consultee on drainage within its area of special drainage need around Newark-on-Trent.
• Environment Agency. Consultee for development affected by main river flooding, and responsible for issuing flood warnings for the Trent at Newark.
• A joint flood alleviation plan. In February 2024, following Storm Henk, Newark and Sherwood District Council committed to jointly commission a River Trent Valley Flood Alleviation Plan exploring natural flood management alongside traditional defences.

Local development context in Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent is one of Nottinghamshire's identified growth towns, and the scale of development under way means flood risk and drainage are rarely an afterthought on a modern application here.

• Middlebeck. A 694-acre urban extension south of the town for up to 3,150 homes, where land within Flood Zone 3 along the Middle Beck has been raised and the watercourse re-formed to bring the development area into Flood Zone 1.
• The Southern Link Road. Built to serve Middlebeck, the road runs alongside a series of roadside attenuation ponds that form part of the site's surface-water drainage.
• Town-centre and riverside sites. Schemes close to the Trent, including land near Kelham Road and the riverside marinas, sit within Flood Zones 2 and 3 and need a flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent that addresses river, surface water and, in places, sewer flooding together.
• Smaller schemes and extensions. Even modest conversions or extensions in the town centre can trigger drainage or flood risk requirements where a site lies within a critical drainage area or adds impermeable surfacing.

What your flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent must show

A flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent has to demonstrate that a development is safe for its lifetime, does not increase flood risk elsewhere, and satisfies Newark and Sherwood District Council and, where relevant, Nottinghamshire County Council and the Environment Agency.

• Flood Zone and vulnerability. Identify the site's Flood Zone on the Flood Map for Planning and match the development's vulnerability classification to what national policy allows there.
• Every source of flooding. River, surface water, groundwater (including the Sherwood Sandstone), sewer and, on riverside sites, the residual risk that remains behind an existing defence.
• Climate change allowances. Flood levels and depths modelled to the 2070–2125 allowances for the Trent catchment, not just present-day mapping.
• Safe access and egress. A safe route away from the site during a flood, particularly for schemes near the river or in the areas the November 2000 flood or Storm Henk affected.
• Surface-water drainage. How runoff will be managed using sustainable drainage (SuDS) in line with Nottinghamshire County Council's requirements as Lead Local Flood Authority, checked where useful against our free drainage calculators and BRE 365 infiltration rate calculator.

Flood risk assessments for every situation in Newark-on-Trent

People come to us for a flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent for planning permission, buying a home, satisfying a mortgage lender or insurer, achieving a BREEAM rating, or designing the drainage for a new scheme. A flood risk assessment, a sequential or exception test and a drainage strategy are three distinct reports. They often travel together in a planning submission, but they answer different questions: is the site safe, should the development be here, and where does the surface water go.

• Flood risk assessment for planning. The core report submitted with a planning application to satisfy the NPPF and its Planning Practice Guidance.
• Flood risk survey for property purchase. An independent, site-specific homebuyer survey for buyers, solicitors and lenders in Newark-on-Trent.
• Flood risk assessment for insurance. Clarifies flood risk at a specific property for insurers, brokers and underwriters.
• Flood risk assessment for BREEAM. Structured around BREEAM Pol 03 credit requirements for developments seeking certification.
• Sequential and exception test reports. A locational report demonstrating policy compliance, prepared alongside an FRA where needed; see our sequential and exception test service.
• Surface-water drainage strategy (SuDS). Investigates how runoff is managed on a site; see our drainage strategy service, plus discharge of drainage conditions and preliminary drainage design.
• Groundwater and flood modelling. Groundwater is a source we assess within every flood risk assessment, and flood modelling is a technique we bring in where mapping alone is not detailed enough for a Trent-side site.

How Unda helps with flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent

Unda has completed more than 5,000 flood risk assessments across England and Wales since 2014, working directly with the Environment Agency, Nottinghamshire County Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council on schemes along the Trent and its tributaries. Our flood risk consultants read the river, the surface water and the groundwater together, because on a site like Newark-on-Trent any one of them read in isolation can miss the risk that matters. We prepare the same depth of assessment for towns all along the Trent, including our guides to flood risk assessment in Nottinghamshire and flood risk assessment in Nottingham.

Local flood risk management and emergency contacts in Newark-on-Trent

Several separate bodies share responsibility for flood risk around Newark-on-Trent, and knowing which one covers which job is often the fastest way to get a question answered.

• In a flood emergency. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
• Power affected by flooding. Call 105 to reach your local electricity network operator.
• Become a flood warden. Newark and Sherwood residents can register through the district council's flood wardens scheme, which trains volunteers to help close roads safely and support their neighbours during a flood.

Frequently asked questions about flood risk assessment in Newark-on-Trent