Tapton Terrace: New action planned after 'risk to life' identified on Chesterfield street

Derbyshire County Council, Environment Agency and Minister for Water and Flooding have responded after coroner’s prevention of future deaths report identified a ‘risk to life’ at Tapton Terrace in Chesterfield.

The report was issued in September following the inquest into the death of Maureen Gilbert, who tragically drowned in her Tapton Terrace house in October 2023 after River Rother burst its banks during Storm Babet.

The coroner sent copies of his report to relevant agencies including Derbyshire County Council, the Environment Agency and Parliamentary and Minister for Water and Flooding – who were given until the beginning of November to respond to the findings.

In response to the report, Derbyshire County Council has pledged to explore the feasibility of removing an access bridge, located near Tapton Terrace in a bid to reduce the risk of flooding.

This comes after a 2008 pre-feasibility study indicated that the removal of the bridge would lower the river levels upstream from Tapton Terrace during flood events – but unfortunately funding for the scheme was not approved.

The council also has promised to look into a possibility of constructing a Flood Alleviation Scheme on Spital Brook and promised to work with the Environment Agency to consider any other actions, which could improve safety for Tapton Terrace residents.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Net Zero and Environment Councillor Carol Wood said: “We’d like to express our deepest sympathies to everyone who knew and loved Mrs Gilbert.

“We continue to work with partner organisations, including the Environment Agency, which has primary responsibility for flooding from rivers such as the River Rother, to try to reduce the risk of flooding in Chesterfield.

“I’m keenly aware of the risks of extreme fIooding events and unfortunately, in such extreme events, we can't prevent flooding entirely. But by working with partners and people who are at risk, we will look at all potential options to reduce the flood risk across Chesterfield and continue to work to minimise the effects of flooding and the damage it causes.

“We have responded to the Coroner in detail and set out the actions we are taking including exploring the feasibility of removing an access bridge, which is located over the River Rother, just to the south of Tapton Terrace. Removal of the bridge may provide a benefit in terms of reducing the flood risk to Tapton Terrace and surrounding flood areas.

“We’re also exploring the feasibility of constructing a Flood Alleviation Scheme on the Spital Brook, subject to the necessary external funding being made available.

“And we continue to work with the Environment Agency to explore further ways in which the flood risk can be reduced.

“The actions we have already taken since Storm Babet include conducting inspections, together with the Environment Agency, of all the places where flooding took place. We have addressed issues where possible and notified the relevant landowners of issues they need to deal with.

“We produced the Section 19 Flooding Report to allow partners and the community to develop a shared understanding of what happened, how it happened, and any actions and learning to be taken from Storm Babet.

“Despite the work conducted so far and planned for the future, some areas of Chesterfield remain at risk of flooding, but I’m determined to support work with other agencies to ensure we do everything we can to try to prevent a tragedy like Mrs Gilbert happening to other families."

The Environment Agency has also responded to the coroner’s report and promised to ‘explore options for reducing flood risk to the community at Tapton Terrace’.

Lyn Peart, Area Director at the Environment Agency, said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Maureen Gilbert.

"The Environment Agency will conduct a new study at Tapton Terrace to explore options for reducing flood risk to the community, and we have confirmed this in our response to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report.

"We will continue to work with local partners and the community to reduce the risk of flooding by progressing other actions set out in Derbyshire County Council's Section 19 report."

Environment Agency confirmed that dredging the river channel at Tapton Terrace was considered but based on evidence from 2024, it is believed that this ‘would not provide any flood risk benefit to the community’.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural has also issued a response to the coroner’s report.

In a letter sent to coroner Matthew Kewley, MP Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding, has acknowledged that a pre-feasibility study to prevent flooding at Tapton Terrace was carried out in 2008 and a number of schemes were considered.

However, none were found to comply with the government’s spending rules, as set by HM Treasury’s Green Book, which require all projects to demonstrate value for money in order to be considered for funding.

MP Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding, said: “I was very sorry to learn of her tragic death in October 2023, and I would like to express my sympathies to Mrs. Gilbert’s family for what has been a deeply upsetting time for them.

“Flooding devastates communities. We take our responsibility in reducing these risks extremely seriously and we have acted to increase investment, change the rules around how funding for flooding is allocated and set up a Flood Resilience Taskforce to improve how prepared the country is for flooding.

“With respect to flooding at Tapton Terrace during Storm Babet, I view your findings with the utmost gravity.

“Taking into account the findings from your report, the fact that 18 years have passed since the last pre-feasibility study and with the introduction of new appraisal and funding rules, I agree with the Environment Agency’s conclusion that a new pre-feasibility study should be taken forward and will underline to the Environment Agency’s Chief Executive, when we next meet, that this should be undertaken in 2026.

" As the Environment Agency’s response sets out, if a viable option is identified, it can then be considered for funding under the new, more straightforward funding rules, which take effect in April 2026.”

This comes as River Hipper Flood Alleviation Scheme has secured just under £400,000 of government funding for the next phase of development, which is set to help reduce flood risk in Chesterfield.

The Environment Agency estimates that this phase (known as the Outline Business Case) should commence in spring 2026 and is understood to take a minimum of two years to complete, subject to funding.

In addition to this, there is ongoing preliminary work to explore further natural flood management and storage within the River Rother catchment, upstream of Tapton Terrace.

MP Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding met with Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins last month to discuss flooding concerns at Tapton Terrace.

She said: “One of the issues raised by Toby Perkins was the potential for Compulsory Purchase Orders in relation to Tapton Terrace. I suggested to him that this would be something to discuss with the local council in the first instance. I agreed to remain in touch about potential

options ahead.”

The Minister for Water and Flooding is set to meet with Chris Henning, Executive Director at Derbyshire County Council, and Philip Duffy,Chief Executive at the Environment Agency, to further discuss flood protection in Chesterfield ahead of winter.