A flood alleviation scheme is under construction at the city’s Town Moor, delivered by the Blue Green Newcastle project which is setting out to make the city more resilient to major storm events driven by climate change.
Newcastle City Council, working with the Freemen of Newcastle, the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water, chose the Town Moor as the site for Blue Green Newcastle’s pilot scheme given the site’s century-old association with flooding events and the opportunity to work in partnership with the Freemen on shared goals.
One of the most notable events, dubbed Thunder Thursday in June 2012, saw approximately £70million of damage citywide, which included surface water run-off from the Town Moor flooding residential and business properties in South Jesmond.
Contractors are currently developing a sustainable drainage solution providing temporary storage for excess water to reduce the risk of flooding and better protect homes, businesses and key transport routes in the area.
Primary funding for the £2m project is being provided by the Environment Agency with contributions from the Freemen of Newcastle and the Council.
Cllr Juna Sathian, Newcastle City Council Cabinet Member for Climate and Transport, said: “Our environment is changing and that can leave us exposed to weather events we’re not prepared for if we don’t take proactive action now.
“That’s exactly what we’re doing through Blue Green Newcastle, making sure we have the infrastructure in place to meet our future needs, and protect our communities, people’s livelihoods and our transport networks.
“There’s more than a century of records of flooding events with water flowing from the Town Moor, so it made perfect sense to start this programme here and make sure we’re keeping our communities as safe as we possible can.”
Nick Atkinson, Vice Chairman of the Freemen of Newcastle, said: “We are proud to support this important project contributing significant funds to enable its development and completion in coming weeks.
“The Freemen of Newcastle are committed to our ongoing approach towards flood alleviation with other considerable drainage projects having been completed recently and further schemes planned across other areas of the Town Moors.
“Combined with significant tree and hedgerow planting schemes that have taken place over the last five years with tens of thousands of trees and hedgerow plants being planted we are confident that our forward thinking approach has considerable benefits to local residents and the wider city towards flood resilience.”
The key elements of the project are:
- A detention basin, which is a landscaped depression that will store surface water temporarily.
- A bund to increase storage potential, with a realigned access track on top of it.
- A filter drain which connects to a flow control chamber, which limits the discharge rate of water into the lake at Exhibition Park.
- Landscaping works in Exhibition Park to enhance the area between the Town Moor and the Lake.
- Minor highways works at Clayton Road.
Find out more about Blue Green Newcastle.
Picture: Nick Atkinson, Vice Chairman of the Freemen of Newcastle, and Cllr Juna Sathian, Cabinet Member for Climate and Transport, at the site of a Blue Green Newcastle pilot scheme at the Town Moor. Credit - Steve Brock.