Severn Vale Catchment Partnership
Severn Vale | Severn
Contact Information
Catchment Host
Severn Rivers Trust & Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
Enquiries
Kai'a Bellamy - Wetlands Project Officer at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
Social
Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest from the Severn Vale Catchment Partnership!
The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership send out a quarterly newsletter with project updates, job opportunities, news from the Vale and beyond, and more!
You can read the most recent edition below.
If you’d like to sign up, email Kai’a Bellamy at kaia.bellamy@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk.
The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership
The Severn Vale area includes many of the small rivers and brooks that drain into the lower River Severn or directly into the Severn estuary. The land is variable with mixed urban, agricultural and forested areas. The main urban areas include Gloucester, Cheltenham, Ledbury, and Stroud.
The Severn Vale catchment partnership is engaging with a wide range of partners throughout the catchment including conservation organisations, local authorities, statutory bodies, recreational groups, and water companies. The Catchment Management Plan was updated in November 2024 and is available to download in the Resources section at the bottom of the page.
Regular meetings of the partnership are held to review the priorities and progress with projects and identify any new opportunities for engagement. The partnership will frequently update the catchments online project map with existing, developing, and conceptual projects.
The Flagship Programmes
The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership work across the Severn Vale to promote and improve the water environment for people and wildlife alike. Since 2020 the partnership has been trialling a new approach to project development and focusing on 5 flagship programmes:
- Wilder Frome
- Forest to Sea
- Wilder Leadon
- Our Living Rivers (Gloucester and Cheltenham)
- Flourishing Floodplains
By focusing our effort over the next couple of years on key catchments and areas of work, we are developing series of ambitious flagship programmes that set out how we can restore functionality at a catchment level, and support and help bring in funding for delivery on the ground. Whilst the projects will seek to include specific work plans, other works will be considered when opportunities for improvement arise.
Wilder Frome
The first flagship programme focuses on the River Frome catchment in the Stroud District.
A range of organisations came together to co-author a vision for how we think the Frome should be improved and managed for wildlife and people, as well as detailing some specific objectives we would like to see realised by 2030. We fully appreciate that the River Frome and its adjoining habitats belongs to all the individuals and communities who rely on it for work, rest, and play, and equally the wildlife that calls it home.
Whilst the plan seeks to include ambitious and specific objectives, other works will be considered when opportunities arise. All these objectives and opportunities can only be realised through collaborative working.
You can find the Wilder Frome Vision and Strategic Action Plan below.
Local Stroud artist Stu McLellan designed our logo. You can find more of his work at www.stumclellan.co.uk.
Community Event - September 2025
On September 4th 2025 we held a community event at Stroud Brewery & Taproom with a series of short presentations and a visit to a nearby work-in-progress. Around 50 people joined us to celebrate the river Frome and we got some lovely feedback. A big thank you to the brewery staff, as well as all of you who came along!
The presentations are available to download as PDFs below:
Forest to Sea
This Flagship Programme focuses on water in the Forest of Dean.
In 2025, work started on the second Flagship Programme and a Vision and Strategic Action Plan was co-written by partners who form the Forest to Sea Working Group. The document went out for public consultation and the comments we received have been integrated into the final edit.
The purpose of the plan is to encourage partners to come together to find common ground and properly identify what would make a real difference. We can then focus on developing integrated projects to do this at scale, providing more attractive propositions for funders. The document shares responsibility for a healthy water environment across many organisations, communities, and individuals, and helps us to come together to provide stronger narratives to enable real change for the water environment in the Forest of Dean catchments.
Whilst the plan seeks to include ambitious and specific objectives, other works will be considered when opportunities arise. All these objectives and opportunities can only be realised through collaborative working.
Local artist Stu McLellan designed our logo. You can find more of his work at www.stumclellan.co.uk.
Wilder Leadon
Our third Flagship Programme centres on the catchment of the River Leadon, flowing between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
We envision a resilient River Leadon catchment where connected habitats, thriving wildlife, and sustainable land and water management support a healthy environment and prosperous communities. By empowering partnerships among farmers, land managers, businesses and local people, we will restore natural processes, improve water quality, and open rivers for fish migration.
By promoting regenerative farming, innovative funding and multifunctional landscapes, we will enhance biodiversity while supporting viable rural businesses. Through collaborative monitoring, citizen science and evidence-led action, we will target interventions where they matter most. By working together, we will build a climate-resilient catchment that delivers lasting benefits for nature, people and the local economy.
The Vision and Strategic Action Plan for this programme is currently being finalised by the working group and will be available to view soon.
Local artist Stu McLellan designed our logo. You can find more of his work at www.stumclellan.co.uk.
Meet the Partners
The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership is always growing and diversifying, and we want you to join us!
We want to include a wide range of organisations, groups, and individuals with an interest in protecting and enhancing the water environment of the Severn Vale. Listening to different perspectives, learning how people use and love their rivers, getting communities engaged with action for nature, and working together in partnership is at the heart of the Catchment Based Approach.
So whether you represent a larger group, or are interested from a personal perspective, we would really value your input and opinions. Join us in various locations across the Severn Vale for the full partnership meetings in April and October for a day of project updates, discussions about ongoing work, and an opportunity to have your voice heard.
If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved, email: kaia.bellamy@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk
The Steering Group
The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership is lead by a steering group of 8 key organisations. Together, we make sure that the partnership is active in developing projects, sticking to our Catchment Management Plan, and working together to protect the water environment.
The WaterWatch Collective - bringing citizen scientists together across Gloucestershire
The WaterWatch Collective brings together those passionate about the health and state of our water habitats in Gloucestershire and its catchments. We want to create a community that has access to the latest data and the knowhow to proactively collect more. Their data portal lets you explore the different types of citizen science being carried out across the county, find local groups to join, and helps direct you through to organisations like The Riverfly Partnership and FreshWater Watch to get involved in national schemes.
If you’re interested in citizen science in Gloucestershire and the Severn Vale, visit The WaterWatch Collective website.
Partnership Meeting April 2026
Our latest Partnership meeting was at the George Café in Newnham. We were treated to presentations by partners on the Eelscapes Landscape Recovery project, Gloucestershire Natural Flood Management (NFM) Partnership, Drainage and Wastewater Management, the Awre Saltmarsh, and Westbury Court Gardens river restoration.
There were also breakout groups on Blue and Green Infrastructure (BGI) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), Forest to Sea and the community, and Gloucestershire NFM project idea gathering.
After lunch we headed to the Kingsthorne Winery and Vineyard in Flaxley where we were treated to a tour of the habitat creation work being done by Severn Rivers Trust and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (South West). This includes reprofiling and reconnecting the floodplain, fencing the river to allow sheep and cows to graze without damaging the banks, and adding woody structures into the river to provide habitat, improve water storage, and reduce flood risk downstream.
