Officers from the Environment
Agency will be putting up a temporary
flood barrier in Rothbury on Wednesday (9
December) as part of a training exercise
to prepare for flooding in the town.
The team is practising
with the temporary barriers to make sure
they can do it rapidly and effectively in
dangerous weather conditions during an incident.
The Operations Delivery
team – the Environment Agency’s workforce
on the ground - regularly practice their
emergency response to incidents in different
towns across the North East, and the operation
in Rothbury is the latest exercise.
The barriers have been
brought in as part of the Environment Agency’s
review of its response to the flooding in
Rothbury following the floods in September
2008 and more recent high water levels during
this summer.
Project co-ordinator
Bob Carrick said: “The team will practice
installing around 11 metres of temporary
flood barriers, which will help to protect
a number of homes in the town from flooding.
The position of the barrier will also ensure
the main road into Rothbury will be better
protected. This will mean that emergency
vehicles will be able to get in and out,
and Rothbury won’t be cut off as readily
during a flood.
“These barriers are
an interim measure though, and we are looking
at alternative models which could be installed
by our response teams or the trained flood
wardens in the community. This will speed
up the time taken to respond to an emergency
and reduce the risk of flooding to homes.”
The new-model lightweight
barriers, which would slot into holes in
the road, will be funded by money from the
Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee’s
Local Levy Fund. This is raised from local
authorities across the North East to spend
on local flood reduction schemes, and compliments
central government funding.
The flood barrier plan
is the latest proposal to reduce the risk
of flooding in Rothbury, and the barriers
will be the first line of defence in a flood
for Armstrong Cottages. The homes will also
benefit from additional work by the Environment
Agency and Cheviot Housing Association to
make sure that gaps in a boundary wall around
the cottages are closed up during a flood.
The housing association is hoping to do
this work by Christmas.
The Environment Agency
is also working with Northumberland County
Council’s own stonemason to raise the height
of a boundary wall around The Maltings in
the town.
The wall will be raised
by a maximum of 60 centimetres in places
which will help to reduce flooding similar
to that which was experienced this July
when around 80 millimetres of rain fell
in one day on the River Coquet at Linbriggs,
near Rothbury. The long-term average monthly
rainfall for July at this location is 57mm.
The wall is lower in
some places than in others and the aim is
to raise the structure to a uniform height
across its entire length to prevent water
coming over the top. This will help to protect
the properties from a flood on a similar
scale to that experienced in July.
Since September 2008
the Environment Agency has also made extensive
improvements to the Coplish Burn which flows
through the centre of the town. These helped
to reduce the risk of flooding to homes
and businesses in July.
The £500,000 Coplish
Burn scheme is still being improved and
includes replacing or strengthening more
than 200 metres of culvert, raising the
pumping station at the Riverside to ensure
it can be used during a flood, and improving
the trash screens so they filter out more
debris.
