Work on a new £65,000 flood embankment which protects homes in Hexham from flooding is complete.

Storm Desmond saw flooding to 15 properties at Tyne Green, Hexham, on 5 December 2015.

Properties flooded as a result of water from the River Tyne flowing through an underpass beneath the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line near to Tyne Green Golf Course.

The Environment Agency prioritises delivery of new and improved flood defences using government funding over a rolling six year programme, to schemes which provide the greatest benefits to protect properties from flooding.

Due to the small number of properties that would benefit, against the cost of delivering a flood scheme at Tyne Green, the Environment Agency had been unable to deliver new flood defences in the area.

Funded by residents

The new flood bank has been uniquely funded by residents who pooled individual government grants made available to them following flooding over the winter period of 2015/16.

The Environment Agency and Northumberland County Council worked closely with Tyne Green residents, Northumbrian Water and Network Rail to provide a creative solution.

The work started on 11 June and was finished this week. Some fencing still needs to be put in place and this will take place early in July.

The flood embankment, built by Breheny Civil Engineering, has been designed to protect against a flood event similar to that experienced by Tyne Green residents during Storm Desmond. Chris Hood, Project Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

I’m delighted we’ve been able to complete this flood defence which is great news for the residents of Tyne Green.

They have been on a long and difficult journey and ultimately used their initiative and all worked together to pool their grants which has allowed us to build this new flood defence.

I’d like to thank them for their support and continued patience while we have worked together with Network Rail and others to find the best and most cost-effective solution at Tyne Green.

We hope this protection afforded by the new defence will now provide local residents with peace of mind when bad weather threatens in the future.

Agencies working together

Northumberland County Councillor Glen Sanderson, Cabinet member for Environment and Local Services, said:

This is another fine example of agencies working with local communities to find innovative solutions to improve their areas and prevent flooding events damaging their homes in the future.

County Councillor for Hexham Central with Acomb Trevor Cessford added:

This is great news for local residents and should hopefully provide peace of mind and security for the future.
I would also like to say a huge thanks to all the residents for their patience and understanding in this drawn out matter and for the selfless financial contributions they themselves have made towards the project.”

The Environment Agency is urging people to ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ by visiting the Floods Destroy website and do three things to prepare for flooding.

• check your postcode and find out if you are at risk of flooding
• sign-up for free flood warnings if you are at risk
• view and save the 3-point flood plan so you know how to ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ in a flood

Residents are being invited to learn more about the Outstays to Skeffling Managed Realignment Scheme by attending the surgery at Patrington Village Hall, Church Lane, 11am to 3.3pm on Thursday 5 July.

Being delivered in partnership with Associated British Ports, the scheme will see a new inter-tidal environment created that offsets habitat losses from future coastal development and climate change.

It is a legal obligation for the Environment Agency to rebalance the reduction in habitats caused by ‘coastal squeeze’, which occurs when fixed hard flood defence structures, built to protect people and properties along the coast, reduce the inter-tidal land between low and high tide as a result of rising sea levels.

As part of the proposed scheme a 900 acre natural habitat site will be created for estuarine and terrestrial wildlife and an improved landscaped flood defence will surround this area to help reduce the risk of flooding to the local community.

The Environment Agency and Associated British Ports say they are hoping to announce the final design and plans this autumn, with the planning application being submitted before the end of the year and construction starting in spring 2019.

A summer storm flooded homes and businesses across the south west, thousands were driven from their homes and tragically a number of lives were lost.

The Environment Agency, together with the Sid Vale Association will commemorate the floods of July 1968 with a free exhibition of historic flood photographs and maps. They are inviting residents and visitors to come along and share their experiences or to simply view the photographs on display.

Date: 7 and 8 July 2018

Opening times: 10.30am to 4pm

Location:

Chris Khan, Flood Risk Officer at the Environment Agency, said

This is one of the biggest floods we have recorded in Devon. Many communities that we work with were affected. We would like as many people as possible to come along, whether they are a local resident or on holiday. We would love visitors to share memories and bring any photographs they have.

The impacts of the flood were immense; bridges collapsed causing roads to close. Sidmouth, Colyton, Honiton, Newton Poppleford, East Budleigh and Ottery St Mary all had significant flood damage whilst The Otterhead reservoir was completely washed away.

A lot has changed since 1968; similar storms still occur but people and businesses are better protected than ever before. In the last 10 years the Government has invested more than £6.1 billion in flood risk management work including many flood alleviation schemes across the south west.

There are also tools to help you reduce your own risk of flooding. The Environment Agency send targeted flood warnings to over a million people in England – giving them vital time to prepare for flooding. You can sign up for free flood warnings online or by ringing 0345 988 1188.

A Cornish waste disposal company has been ordered to pay £26,500 in fines and costs for illegally handling and disposing of hazardous waste.

Glebe Quarry Limited was also ordered to pay £17,000 compensation to a local farmer after waste contaminated with asbestos was dumped on his land. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.

The company, which trades as 1st Call Skips, operates a permitted waste transfer station at Glebe Quarry near Roche, St Austell. On 6 December 2017, the company pleaded guilty to 5 separate offences at Truro Crown Court.

The offences occurred at 3 sites in Cornwall, including the company’s own waste transfer station, a nearby farm and a site operated by the china clay company, Imerys.

The Environment Agency had earlier advised the company to improve Glebe Quarry after the drainage and concreting at the site was checked and found to be ‘inadequate’. No action was taken so the Environment Agency issued an enforcement notice requesting that improvements works be carried out.

Glebe Quarry Limited appealed, but the appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate; forcing the company to carry out the improvements that were finally completed in November 2016.

Further checks by the Environment Agency revealed the company had unlawfully dumped more than 2,400 tonnes of waste, some of which was contaminated with asbestos, on land which wasn’t authorised by their site permit. Glebe Quarry Limited continued illegally dumping waste at the site despite being warned they would be committing an offence if they carried on.

In 2015, the defendant also sent waste to Imerys Minerals Ltd with waste that should have been suitable for land improvements for restoring an area of china clay spoil heaps. However, it was later found to be contaminated with asbestos.

The asbestos was discovered before the waste was spread and the loads were returned to Glebe Quarry. Nearly 50 tonnes of hazardous material was removed by Glebe Quarry Limited but was never traced as no paperwork was kept.

Glebe Quarry Limited also supplied waste to local farms for use in low-risk activities such as the construction of farm tracks. This was done under an exemption which is an agreement that doesn’t require a permit. The waste supplied to one farm was heavily contaminated with asbestos and cost nearly £120,000 to clean-up.

Matthew Lee of the Environment Agency said:

This case sends a clear message to those who put profit ahead of the environment and human health.

As a minimum, we expect waste companies who hold environmental permits to act legally and should set an example to others, but the behaviour in this case has fallen far short of exemplary.

Appearing before Truro Crown Court on 22 June 2018, Glebe Quarry Limited was fined £12,500 for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, and the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

In addition to the financial penalty, the court ordered that Glebe Quarry Limited must proactively inform the Environment Agency which sites they are sending their waste to and they must also remedy the sites they have polluted.

If you see waste crime taking place report it by calling our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers.

Lea Marston lakes were created in the 1980s to collect contaminated sediment flowing down the River Tame from Birmingham and Minworth sewage treatment works. An automatic trash screen was built to collect logs and other debris to protect the equipment used to remove the contaminated sediment. It was never installed to protect people from flooding.

Over the last 30 years water quality in the River Tame has improved dramatically, and for over 15 years there has been no need to clear the sediment. This has meant that the lakes have become a wildlife haven for birds and other animals.

The trash screen costs over £200,000 each year to run and maintain and it has now got to the end of its design life. So, as it is not providing any environmental benefit and it’s not reducing flood risk, the Environment Agency are planning to decommission it.

This will lead to further improvements in water quality; logs and other natural debris are good for healthy rivers as they create natural shallows and deep areas which is really good for fish and aquatic life.

Neil Lote, from the Environment Agency said:

We’re really pleased to see the work we’ve been doing to improve river water quality have such wide benefits. The screen isn’t reducing flood risk, and is actually acting as a barrier to further environmental improvements to the lakes and the river, so it makes sense to remove it.

After the Environment Agency remove the screen, they will be able to take more accurate measurements of water levels so their flood alerts and warnings will be more accurate as the water level won’t be artificially altered by the screen.

The Environment Agency will closely monitor the lakes and the River Tame before they totally remove the screen to make sure the river is flowing as their expert assessments have shown.