Wyre Flood Forum

WYRE FLOOD FORUM

It has been a turbulent period and threatens to continue that way. Little has happened of note in the Wyre and Cocker catchments but an extraordinary news story broke on Mon 27th June following heavy rain that led to severe flooding in urban Cleveleys, Thornton and Fleetwood which, in many ways, was a repeat of flooding in late September 2019. United Utilities reported that the sewer system was overwhelmed with the Post Office in Fleetwood Road North having to close and Cardinal Allan High School having to be evacuated because of the backing up of drains. A glance at the Lancashire County Council flood website will show waters lapping at the fronts of houses in Northumberland Avenue creating a boating lake literally from wall to wall as far as the eye could see. The scene was one of desolation with not a soul or vehicle moving. Although isolated, this incident is a lesson for us all and highlights how flooding is monitored in the county and how essential is the part played by individual property owners and occupiers as well as local councillors. Rachel Crompton, Lancashire County Council Principal Flood Risk Officer, tells me that whilst LCC Highways, Wyre BC and United Utilities responded promptly to reports by anxious residents in Cleveleys, there were insufficient reports received by the County Council in its Statutory role as Lead Local Flood Authority to trigger the Council’s duty under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 which requires the LCC to investigate what actions the front line organisations have individually done with their resources to remedy matters. The message is, therefore, whatever the scale of flooding to your property, report it. I have read the county council’s policy and so can you. Search ‘Lancashire County Council Flood Investigation Policy’ online. It is only by acting together that we can make use of the resources at our finger tips. I am asked by Rachel Crompton to reassure you that residents names and addresses are not added to any register; only road names are identified. The converse of not reporting a flood means that investment from DEFRA is less likely to combat future threats. You will have deduced that LCC Flood Authority works with information reported after the event rather like the coroner. Their officers do not deal with the flooding on the day. The most helpful reports are emailed to: highways@lancashire.gov.uk giving a location, time and description of the impact. As I have commented above, you will not find a Section 19 report of the events of Mon 27th June but I would recommend, nevertheless, a search on the LCC website; flood investigation report-Lancashire County Council which will bring up reports of previous incidents that hit the headlines. It might seem clichéd to say so but please help the council to help us all! Put these contact numbers in a handy place: Floods: 0300 123 6701. Highways: 0300 123 6780.

The Grand Contour Canal

As we are all aware, Great Britain is a country of two halves with politicians beguiling us with stories of levelling up. You may have read in the newspapers recently proposals to level-up the nation’s water supply by resurrecting a scheme which has remained on the drawing board since the second world war. In 1943, planners devised a method of transporting surplus water in the North to the sun-drenched shores of the home counties. The Grand Contour Canal would follow a contour down the spine of England at an altitude of precisely 310 feet. It would have no locks but several pumping stations along the route to get water into the canal and let gravity do the rest to get the precious commodity to the reservoirs of Southern England. It remains on the drawing board but the recent drought has