Garden designed to help reduce risk of flooding

A NEW garden in Oxfordshire is aiming to promote the uptake of flood resilience measures by demonstrating nature-based solutions as a first line of defence for UK properties.

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Opening at Howbery Business Park on Monday, the project offers free public access to a blueprint for how outdoor spaces, such as an ordinary terraced house garden, can help reduce flood risks.

It builds on the silver medal-winning Flood Resilience Garden that debuted at Chelsea Flower Show last year.

The now permanent and reimagined garden in Oxfordshire seeks to show how a combination of functionality and aesthetics in gardens can help address the urgent need for widespread flood mitigation.

Extremes of heat and rainfall driven by climate change and years of underinvestment in water infrastructure have left the country exposed to increasingly frequent and intense flooding, with one in four homes at risk.

The garden comes as part of a resilience campaign by Flood Re, a joint initiative between the Government and insurers to make flood insurance cover for households more affordable.