Belford gets £600,000 flood scheme

05 September 2007

The Environment Agency is to carry out a groundbreaking flood defence scheme in Belford, Northumberland, later this year.

The £600,000 package will include trash screens to prevent blockages in the stream which runs through Belford, altering the channel to maximise its capacity, and collaboration with farmers to help slow the flow of water down the river catchment.

One of the proposals will look at how the corners of fields upstream of Belford can be used as wet areas so that surface water drains away more slowly. Staff will look at how they can alter tight bends in the channel to increase capacity and help water flow better through the town.

They will also be introducing a flood warning scheme to the area so that residents and businesses signed up to the service can receive an alert if flooding is expected.

Levy manager Peter Kerr said: ‘Our climate is changing which means that extreme weather will become more frequent in the future. We need to find new ways of dealing with our streams and rivers rather than only trying to wall up the water with flood defences. ‘We are using levy money to fund some innovative improvements which will help to strengthen flood protection in the town.

However flooding will become more of an issue in the future and everyone needs to take steps now to protect themselves.’ The improvement package is being funded by the Northumberland Regional Flood Defence Committee’s local levy which is raised by local authorities in the northeast, and managed by the Environment Agency.

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Belford gets £600,000 flood scheme

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