CONSTRUCTION of the second Severn Bridge in the mid 1990s has been blamed for contributing to flooding of a castle grounds.

Fields in the grounds of Caldicot Castle have flooded following periods of heavy rainfall and from the Nedern Brook that runs from the east of the grounds, past an industrial estate and out to the Severn Estuary under the M4 motorway.

Councillors were told improvements to the management and maintenance of the brook could alleviate flooding concerns, heightened by plans for new housing in the area.

Caldicot Castle Labour councillor Jackie Strong read a letter on behalf of an unnamed local resident to a Monmouthshire County Council scrutiny committee calling for action on screens intended to prevent debris flowing from the brook into the Severn.

The Castle Lodge resident said they have lived in their property, with the Nedern behind it, since 1980 and wrote: “It had never been a problem since the mid 1990s with the building of the second Severn Bridge.

“The problem is the Nedern runs through a tunnel under the M4 motorway and is protected by a screen and blockages is causing flooding.”

The resident also said the brook had been drained for weeds and silt in the 1980s but now only weeds are removed and also claimed there is no plan for dealing with any potential for aggregate spilling into the waterway where it passes an industrial site.

They said flooding of a drainage channel is also stopping people from using a walking route from the castle to the Portskewett Corn Field project and the Wales Coastal Path and they were concerned plans for hundreds of houses in the area could make the problems worse.

The resident suggested adaptations to the screens on the brook, where it runs under the motorway, could address the problems.