Flood-hit business owner backs council defence work

Plans to strengthen flood defences in Derby have been backed by a business owner whose gym was left under 9ft (2.7m) of water due to flooding in 2023.

Charles Tweed, owner of UltraFlex Gym in Chequers Road, welcomed proposals to spend a further £1m on studies aimed at progressing the next phase of the city's flood protection scheme.

Storm Babet caused widespread flooding across the city, with record river levels on the River Derwent leaving roads underwater, damaging businesses and forcing the closure of key roads.

Tweed said: "We support anything that is going to make the area better."

Tweed's gym was just weeks away from opening when flood water swept through the building, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"We'd only just taken over the building and started refurbishment, and then it came," he said.

"It was like a tsunami. We had to strip everything out and start all over again."

Tweed said the flooding caused about £300,000 of damage and delayed the gym's opening by three months.

Since then, flood-resistant "submarine-style" doors have been installed to help protect the site from future flooding.

A Derby City Council meeting next week will consider plans to fund feasibility and design work for flood defences around Chaddesden Sidings, near Chequers Road and Pride Park, as part of the wider £95m Our City Our River (OCOR) programme.

The authority said the studies are needed to develop a business case for future flood defence works in the area and around Raynesway.

Carmel Swan, the council's cabinet member for climate change and sustainability, said the work would help develop further protection for communities and businesses at risk of flooding.

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