Today (Thursday 4 October) celebrates the official opening of a £4.1 million flood risk management scheme, which will reduce the risk of flooding for 272 homes and businesses in Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot.

Nigel Huddleston MP for Mid-Worcestershire, Worcestershire County Councillor Liz Eyre BEM, who represents Broadway, and Tony Jones, retired Chief Engineer from Wychavon District Council, will be unveiling a plaque and burying a time capsule at Badsey Brook in Broadway. Anthony Parry from the Environment Agency will be giving an outline of the scheme.

Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot were severely flooded in 2007 following record breaking rainfall across the area and the villages were again flooded in 2012. The new flood storage area, sited at an 18 acre field in Broadway, will be able to hold up to 135,000 cubic metres of water during times of flood and will only allow a set amount of water to flow downstream at times of intense and high rainfall. This will reduce flood risk to 57 properties in Broadway and 215 properties in Childswickham and Murcot.

The Badsey Brook flood risk management scheme has been delivered as part of the Environment Agency’s £2.6b capital investment programme to reduce flood risk to 300,000 homes by 2021.

The Environment Agency, Worcestershire County Council, Wychavon District Council, Broadway Parish Council and Childswickham Parish Council worked in partnership to secure over £2 million of Government Grant in Aid funding towards the scheme. The Environment Agency’s English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee also contributed £1.2million. Worcestershire County Council and Wychavon District Council and the local parishes contributed the remaining £900,000.

As a condition of the planning application, detailed archaeological investigations, part funded by Worcestershire County Council, were carried out at the site, unearthing evidence of settlements dating back around 8,500 years. Finds included a beaker dating from around 2,000 BC and skeletons of a mother and baby.

Daniel Wilkinson from the Environment Agency said:

Flooding has a devastating impact on the lives of people and communities that are affected. It’s brilliant that by working with our partners we have found a solution that is designed to greatly reduce the risk of flooding for residents living in Broadway, Childswickham and Murcot.

Nigel Huddleston MP commented:

I am delighted that after so much hard work the Badsey Brook scheme is being officially opened. Broadway and Childswickham in my constituency suffered terrible flooding in 2007 and 2012, so it is a huge relief to see substantive action taken to avoid this happening again.

Flooding is personally, financially and environmentally devastating and as local MP I would like to thank the Environment Agency, Worcestershire County Council, Worcester Archaeology, English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, construction workers and local people for contributing to the completion of this vital scheme. May it protect people, businesses and properties for years to come.

Barrie Parmenter, Chair of Broadway Parish Council, added:

On behalf of Broadway Parish Council, I would like to thank the Environment Agency, Worcestershire County Council, Wychavon District Council and all other agencies for commissioning the flood scheme in Broadway. This now means that hundreds of families will no longer live in fear of flooding when severe weather reports are issued for the district.

Cllr. Emma Stokes, portfolio holder for environment and street scene for Wychavon District Council said:

We’re very pleased to be investing in this important flood alleviation work which will protect many homes in the local area. Flooding impacts not just on residents’ homes but is an incredibly stressful process to go through. This scheme will offer protection and peace of mind. We’re also really pleased to see former Wychavon employee Tony Jones supporting the official opening. This recognises his hard work and dedication to flood alleviation over the years.

The North East’s Flood Community Engagement officer Anna Caygill will be working with schools, businesses and communities in the town and surrounding areas to prepare for severe weather.

And she is kick-starting the project by hosting an event called ‘Flooding in a changing climate’ which will look at the impact of changing weather patterns and how this will affect the community.

• It takes place on Thursday 25 October between 11am and 3pm at Cornerstones Community Centre, North Burns.

Chester-le-Street has a recent flood history with over 900 properties at risk of flooding from surface water, and from the River Wear and Cong Burn.

Flooding on 28 June 2012 caused widespread damage and disruption – but the flood history of the town dates right back as far as the great flood of 1771.

Engagement complements flood scheme

Anna is building on previous work by Durham County Council’s Civil Contingency Unit and working with the community to develop a Community Flood Plan and recruit more volunteer Flood Wardens – who are the eyes and ears of the community during a flood event. Anna said:

I’m working closely with Durham County Council and the town’s Flood Wardens to ensure residents in the area are prepared for flooding.

The engagement complements the flood scheme currently being carried out by the council at the Market Place to reduce flood risk from the Cong Burn, as well as ongoing environmental work being done by Wear Rivers Trust.

We really want people to understand their flood risk and know what steps they can take to ensure they are prepared in the event of a flood, such as making sure they are signed up to receive free flood warnings and having a flood plan which is easy to follow.

Residents can find out if they live in an area at risk of flooding and sign up to receive free flood warnings by visiting here

For more information about the upcoming event contact Anna.Caygill@environment-agency.gov.uk

A Northumberland man has been ordered to pay almost £4,000 after assaulting an Environment Agency officer investigating a pollution incident and threatening to burn down his house.

John Aaron Laing, 54, of East Learmouth Farm in Cornhill-on-Tweed had pleaded not guilty to assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and obstructing an Environment Agency officer in the execution of his duty.

He was found guilty of all offences following a trial which concluded at Berwick Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 2 October.

He was fined £1,246 for assault and threatening behaviour, ordered to pay £250 compensation to the Environment Agency officer he assaulted, and £2,400 costs. He was also given a 12-month conditional discharge for obstruction.

Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, Chris Bunting told the court that on Saturday 6 January this year two Environment Agency officers attended a suspected pollution incident at Cornhill-on-Tweed.

After taking water samples they then drove to New Heaton Farm, owned by Laing, to further investigate and requested a staff member to stop land spreading activities while they were making enquiries, which was agreed.

The two Environment Agency officers then started to take samples from a surface water ditch on the land. One of them went back to the car to collect some equipment, and at this point Laing arrived on site.

He walked up to and into the Environment Agency officer, was very hostile and threatening, continuously bumping into his chest. The officer explained they were investigating a pollution incident. Laing demanded to know who had reported him and the officer replied that he didn’t know.

Threats to burn down house

Laing then said he would “finish” the officer, find out where he lived, burn his house down and kill his family. He kept walking into the officer as they walked towards the road, and raising his hand as if he was going to punch him, and kept inviting the officer to strike him first.

The officer said he was calling the police, and then received a phone call from another Environment Agency officer who overheard Laing’s threatening behaviour. Laing then left the area and the officers left the farm.

During a police interview, Laing agreed he had spoken to the officer, disputed there was any pollution problem and asked the officer to leave only for health and safety reasons because of cattle on the farm. Laing accepted he had been stern but said the officer started pointing and trying to provoke him.

Laing added there was no violence or threatening behaviour and that the officer hadn’t shown him any identification, denying all the allegations put to him. He said he had mentioned the officer’s house but with reference to how he would like it if he turned up uninvited and walked over his garden.

During the trial, Laing repeated these claims and said that the officer had made up his account. However, the court rejected Laing’s version of events, stating that it contained significant contradictions.

Behaviour ‘will not be tolerated’

Paul Whitehill, Enforcement Team leader for the Environment Agency in the North East, said:

Our officers are doing an important job to protect the environment and investigate anything which impacts on the quality of our rivers and they shouldn’t have to put up with any kind of abusive or threatening behaviour during the course of their work.

The officers were taking water quality samples after reports that a watercourse was impacted by slurry pollution and this is all part of enquiries to establish a potential source for the pollution so it can be stopped and prevented in future.

The safety of our officers is paramount and we will always take action against people who assault them or are threatening and abusive. Hopefully this sends out a message to others that it will not be tolerated.