Contingency plan revealed to tackle flooding in Northwich

A comprehensive flooding contingency plan for Northwich has brought together partners to protect the town’s residents and businesses during adverse weather.

The Multi-agency Emergency Flooding Plan is being led by Cheshire West and Chester Council as the Local Lead Flood Authority, working together with the Environment Agency, United Utilities and other agencies such as the Canal & River Trust.

The comprehensive contingency plan uses the experience of previous flood events to set out a collaborative, integrated response to help protect the town’s residents and businesses.

It features a network of monitors to keep an eye on river, sewer and highway drain levels, and will see the installation of 12 pumps which will remove excess water to lower the risk of flooding to the town centre.

A live exercise also brought together multiple agencies in a ‘dry run’ of how they would react to extreme wet weather (see picture).

Craig Connor, Wastewater Drainage Area Manager at United Utilities, said: “A partnership approach to tackling flooding is crucial to ensure we can respond quickly and thoroughly, so it’s fantastic that we have been able to support the council and Environment Agency to set out this comprehensive plan.”

Ollie Hope, Area Flood and Coastal Risk Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We sympathise with everyone who has been affected by past flooding events in Northwich. We have been working hard with partners to understand what happened during those events and to address those issues going forward.

“The £7 million Northwich Flood Defence Scheme has significantly reduced the risk of flooding to properties however we are committed to doing whatever we can to reduce flood risk, from all sources, even further.”