Partnership approach as flood management work continues to move forward

27 September 2024

Partners are working together to seek sustainable, long-term solutions for tackling flooding issues in West Northamptonshire as the area continues to see more frequent and severe weather events.

The River Nene, Dallington Brook and Billing Brook, which are managed by the Environment Agency, continue to see the greatest impact from storms and heavy rainfall, with West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) leading on supporting residents and addressing flooding from smaller watercourses and rainfall.

All agencies face significant challenges around the impact of repeated flooding at Billing Aquadrome, given it is part of the flood plain, which protects houses and businesses in the area. A multi-agency task group established after the previous incident in February to look at more long-term solutions for the site has met regularly and identified potential measures.

This work has included developing a memorandum of understanding between the park owners Meadow Bay Villages and the Council. The owners are developing plans, working with the council and the Environment Agency, to identify ways of reducing the impact of flooding at the Aquadrome.

WNC is prioritising flood management work, with a range of schemes and projects progressing, including:

• Updating the area’s Flood Risk Management Strategy which reflects the current position.
• Securing £6.2 million for the award-winning Resilience & Innovation in Northamptonshire (RAIN) project, which is developing tools and funding local projects to help reduce flood risk to properties not covered by major flood defence works.
• A series of local interventions to reduce specific problems in areas such as at Deanshanger and Green Lane, Northampton.
• Securing £400k of further funds from the Environment Agency for local measures, such as at a school where the playground will be replaced with permeable material to reduce run-off.

Extreme rainfall also causes significant challenges to the roads network maintained by WNC, with the rapid, high-volume rain putting pressure on the drainage system. Whilst even a clean gully can only take so much water, the Council has a robust gully maintenance programme which has seen around 20,000 drains cleared in the past six months alone. In addition, highways teams clear those in the most flood impacted areas more frequently, to ensure the greatest protection possible.

“It’s clear that we are receiving more frequent instances of extreme weather which is affecting our residents and businesses and all agencies need to work together to prioritise how we address this.

“This recent stint of heavy rainfall further demonstrates the importance of the work we’re doing around flood management across West Northamptonshire.

“Finding long-term and sustainable solutions to this is extremely challenging and difficult but we are committed to working together towards achieving this.”Cllr Adam Brown, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council