A £20m programme of work to reduce the risk of flooding in thousands of homes and businesses across North Tyneside has proved to be a success.
The North Tyneside Surface Water and Drainage Partnership saw North Tyneside Council and its partners invest millions to help minimise the risk of flooding for impacted areas in the future.
The partnership was set up following ‘Thunder Thursday’, which took place on June 28, 2012, when two hours of torrential rain left roads closed, rail service cancelled, and hundreds of homes flooded and without power across North Tyneside and the wider region.
The project brought together North Tyneside Council, Capita, Northumbrian Water, the Environment Agency, Nexus and the emergency services. Since its creation, the Partnership has delivered a significant programme of drainage schemes totalling around £20million.
It developed a drainage strategy which included eight major flood risk reduction schemes across North Tyneside. Some of these schemes involved building large dry storage basins to hold back storm water along with new culvert and ditch systems. Numerous other smaller schemes were undertaken to reduce the risk of flooding such as installing flood-proof doors to homes and installing additional road gullies at flooding hotspots.
Improvements were made to emergency flood response procedures and a number of studies were completed to better understand surface water issues and risks.
Significant community engagement also took place and a network of volunteer flood wardens was established to better help neighbourhoods and businesses prepare for heavy rainfall.
Carole Burdis, North Tyneside Council Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, said: “We are extremely proud of this partnership and the years of important work it has undertaken.
“Reducing the risk of flooding has been a top priority for us over the last eight years, so it’s fantastic to see what a difference the partnership has made.
“For the partnership to be effective, it had to be in collaboration with other agencies – as well as with individual residents and neighbourhoods – and it is a real success story of working together to improve the borough.”
As the initiative comes to an end, partners will continue to work closely together on a regional basis to target both regional and local issues.
Mike Madine, Head of Wastewater Service Planning, Quality and Performance at Northumbrian Water, said: “Reducing the risk of flooding to our customers’ homes and businesses is one of our top priorities. The North Tyneside Surface Water and Drainage partnership is a fantastic example of one of the most forward-thinking partnerships that will help us to achieve this.
“By working together with the different agencies, as well as with local communities, we have been able to address flood risk from multiple sources and implement a number of improvements that have helped to ensure the area is well prepared against any adverse weather.”
Speaking on the initiative’s conclusion, Margie Burdis, Capita’s North Tyneside Partnership Director said: “Our team investigated designed and delivered dozens of flood alleviation schemes and most recently completed the final phase of a major scheme that benefits the Monkseaton, Shiremoor, Murton and Wellfield areas.
“We’ll continue to work with the council on any future flood alleviation projects. We also support the local authority’s response to heavy rainfall whenever necessary, such as through removing excess water from roads, cleaning blocked gullies and deploying sandbags.”
Catherine Marshall, Environment Agency Flood Resilience Team Leader said: “This is an amazing example of how successful we can be by working together in partnership. Even though all the partners address different sources of flooding, we share the common goal of reducing flood risk. It’s the way forward.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Capita Local Public Services, part of Capita plc, is dedicated to making processes smarter, organisations more efficient and customer experiences better across the local government, health and education sector in the UK. We unlock value for our clients by applying talent and technology. Responsible for operating all of Capita’s major local, public sector partnerships, we deliver a wide range of specialist services including IT and digital transformation, customer management, revenues, benefits, finance, infrastructure support and regulatory services, education support and back office processing.
Capita Local Public Services can also draw on specialist capabilities, such as HR, payroll and procurement from across the wider Capita group, to ensure the very best market knowledge and outcomes are achieved.
In November 2012 Capita entered into a partnership with North Tyneside Council to deliver a range of technical services: engineering; property; planning; building control and public protection.
Achievements of the partnership are summarised below:
- Development of a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and associated Implementation Plan
- Improvements to emergency flood response procedures to increase resilience
- Financial investment of around £20million for schemes to reduce the risk of flooding in the borough, with North Tyneside Council contributing £4.75million
- Completion of eight major flood risk reduction schemes. Examples include Green Lane, Dudley; Shiremoor; Fairfield Green, Monkseaton and Briar Vale, Monkseaton
- Completion of the £6m Killingworth and Longbenton Sustainable Drainage Project
- Completion of around 30 smaller drainage improvement schemes.
- Installation of property level protection to homes at Oak Grove, Wallsend and Murton Village
- Improving links between partner drainage agencies and regional bodies such as the Northumbria Region Flood and Coastal Committee
- Investment in two new gully cleansing vehicles with associated silt level measuring
- Completion of numerous studies and drainage modelling to better understand surface water issues and risks
- Administering DEFRA Repair and Renewal grant funding to support residents and businesses affected by flooding
- Raising public awareness about flooding and flood resilience through news articles, websites, community presentations, social media and other forms of communication
- Introduction of a Community Flood Warden scheme. The council has a network of 20 volunteer flood wardens, who have received lone-working and health and safety training. They have also participated in emergency response desk-top exercises. The flood wardens were issued with PPE equipment, a handbook and dedicated telephone numbers for use during an incident. The scheme has been shared as best practice with other authorities and was included in a case study produced by the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE).
- Supporting the creation of an Environment Agency community engagement officer to provide a regional resource to advise communities and businesses on flooding issues.