Burton-upon-Trent residents will have a chance to learn more about the benefits of the Environment Agency’s multi-million pound flood scheme improvement work at a series of drop-in sessions next month.

The planned works to the town’s flood defences will see upgrades to the 9km of existing defences that already protect more than 7,000 homes and businesses in the town. The work will also see a further 3,358 properties benefit from increased protection.

The work is due to start in early 2019, with a completion date in early 2021 and will enable further transformation of the town centre to allow it to become more sustainable.

Drop-in sessions are being held at a number of locations across the town where Environment Agency staff will be on hand to discuss the scheme as well as to spread awareness about the need to be more flood resilient.

Mark Swain, who heads the Environment Agency’s Staffordshire flood risk team, said:

These sessions are a really important means for us to explain our work as well as to listen to residents. We would really like as many people as possible to attend one of our sessions so that they can discuss the exciting plans we have in place for Burton.

Sessions are being held as follows:

• Monday 6 November (5pm to 7pm) – Branston Golf Club pavilion
• Tuesday 7 November (5pm to 7pm) – Riverside Hotel
• Thursday 9 November (11am to 2pm) – Burton Library
• Thursday 9 November (3pm to 6pm) – Meadowside Leisure Centre
• Monday 13 November (5pm to 7pm) – Tesco, St Peter’s Bridge

An enforcement undertaking (EU) has been agreed with Anglian Water after the company polluted Houghton Brook, Cambridgeshire with sewage.

Around 150 fish died when sewage from Ilex Road Pumping Station in St Ives was pumped into the water system for 10 hours via the emergency overflow.

The overflow was mainly caused by excessive levels of un-flushable material/rag blocking the pump, which was a known issue at the works. Contributing factors included a second pump being out of service during the incident and the failure of an alarm.

At the time of the pollution the water company tankered the watercourse to prevent pollution travelling further downstream and 2 days later the stream was running clear.

Anglian Water has since replaced equipment at the pumping station including a pump that can better cope with high levels of rag.

The Environment Agency accepted the offer by the water company to put right any damage caused by the pollution and to donate to an environmental charity.

Environment to benefit

As part of the EU, Anglian Water has donated £100,000 to the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire to benefit the local environment and also paid the Environment Agency’s costs.

Jeremy Hay, Environment Agency officer, said:

Enforcement undertakings allow those who commit offences to restore the environment and to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

When appropriate, they allow a quicker resolution than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily working with their local communities”.

Formal sample results taken after the incident in September 2014 showed that sewage had polluted approximately 635m of the stream.

The EU was offered in relation to an offence of pollution under section 4 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

It was accepted in March 2017 and the undertaking was completed on 30 May 2017.

An enforcement undertaking (EU) has been agreed with Anglian Water after the company polluted Houghton Brook, Cambridgeshire with sewage.

Around 150 fish died when sewage from Ilex Road Pumping Station in St Ives was pumped into the water system for 10 hours via the emergency overflow.

The overflow was mainly caused by excessive levels of un-flushable material/rag blocking the pump, which was a known issue at the works. Contributing factors included a second pump being out of service during the incident and the failure of an alarm.

At the time of the pollution the water company tankered the watercourse to prevent pollution travelling further downstream and 2 days later the stream was running clear.

Anglian Water has since replaced equipment at the pumping station including a pump that can better cope with high levels of rag.

The Environment Agency accepted the offer by the water company to put right any damage caused by the pollution and to donate to an environmental charity.

Environment to benefit

As part of the EU, Anglian Water has donated £100,000 to the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire to benefit the local environment and also paid the Environment Agency’s costs.

Jeremy Hay, Environment Agency officer, said:

Enforcement undertakings allow those who commit offences to restore the environment and to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

When appropriate, they allow a quicker resolution than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily working with their local communities”.

Formal sample results taken after the incident in September 2014 showed that sewage had polluted approximately 635m of the stream.

The EU was offered in relation to an offence of pollution under section 4 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

It was accepted in March 2017 and the undertaking was completed on 30 May 2017.

The monthly landings statistics will be released at 9.30am on the 4th Friday of each month, or the next working day if this is a bank holiday.

Pupils at a primary school in Hull are a step closer to understanding what to do in a flood following a visit from the Environment Agency.

Year five students at Stoneferry Primary School took part in an interactive workshop where they engaged in a range of flood-related activities where they were taught which household objects can be the most useful in a flood and saw them using a geographic model to better understand how rivers flow.

The sessions were led by staff from the Environment Agency, which provides Hull with flood warnings and alerts when the risk of flooding from rivers and the Humber Estuary is high.

Ninety-five per cent of Hull stands on a flood plain and it has the highest number of properties at risk of flooding in a single urban area outside London.

Over the years the city has been affected by numerous significant river and coastal flood events and on 25 June, 2007, Hull City Council reported more than 9,000 homes and businesses were flooded when heavy rains covered the city. The floods resulting from this caused many millions of pounds of damage and 95 of the city’s 98 schools were closed.

Jo Harrison, head teacher at Stoneferry Primary School said:

We’re very grateful to the Environment Agency for coming to see us. The children thought it was great fun and it taught them valuable lessons that they’ll hopefully pass onto their parents.

Thankfully ours was one of the luckier schools to have escaped the floods of 2007, however, we couldn’t overlook the damage it caused.

We believe it is important for our students to fully appreciate their environment and understand that nature has the potential to be both beautiful and dangerous.

Through government funding and partnership contributions, the Environment Agency is investing more than £200million in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire to help reduce the likelihood of flooding for thousands of properties by 2021. Part of this investment includes £35.5million of remedial works on the River Hull’s flood defences, which will see the repair and replacement of 39 sections of river defence identified as being at the greatest risk of failure.

Brendan Sharkey, Environment Agency project manager on the River Hull Defences Scheme said:

Over the years we have seen how destructive flooding in Hull can be. While we are investing a lot into the city, much of the devastation caused by flooding can be prevented by making sure people are prepared.

We’re working closely with schools in the area as we believe the next generation will be key to making Hull one of the world’s most flood resilient cities and we have loved the enthusiasm shown by the students of Stoneferry Primary School.

Work on the River Hull Defences Scheme started in April this year and is being delivered by contractor BMM JV – a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald.

Varying levels of improvements to the River Hull defences are needed across the sites and work at different locations across the city is likely to progress at the same time.

Brendan continued:

While we are progressing the work along the river as smoothly and efficiently as we can, due to limited access at some of the sites, traffic from some roads and public pathways may need to be re-directed for short periods of time.

Any road closures will not happen until the New Year and we are doing our utmost to reduce the level of inconvenience caused to the public.

A quarter of the total length of works is now complete, and the Environment Agency expects a substantial amount of the work to be underway by the end of the year.