Kirklees Council 2011

Flood scheme for the residents of Huddersfield's Queen's Square
Posted on 29/06/2011 1:59 PMby: Pressoffice

A flood scheme for Queen’s Square in Huddersfield has been installed thanks to money from the DEFRA Property Flood Protection Grant Scheme.

Queen's Square residents with their new flood protection

On behalf of the home-owners in Queen’s Square, Kirklees Council applied to the scheme which gives local authorities the chance to apply for funding to identify measures for individual properties in areas where there is frequent flooding and where other larger scale solutions are not economically or technically viable.

Kirklees Council applied for the grant for four homes at Queen’s Square as they had suffered internal flooding twice in the last ten years and had not benefited from any community defence scheme as nearby estates had.

The flood protection products installed were door guards and air brick covers supplied by Floodguards which slot into place when required. The products are independently tested and conform to British Standards.

Cllr Peter Mcbride, Kirklees Cabinet member for Environment, said: “These properties have been flooded from the river twice in the last ten years resulting in residents leaving their homes for considerable periods of time. I am delighted that the grant from DEFRA has enabled us to go ahead and organise this flood defence scheme to help prevent the residents of Queen’s Square suffering that trauma again.”

As well as having the flood defence work done, all the property owners have signed up for the Environment Agency’s flood warning system, Flood Warnings Direct, which is available free to people in at risk areas. This can be accessed via the Environment Agency’s website, http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood, or by calling Floodline on 0845 988 1188.

Kirklees Council’s Flood Management Team and the Environment Agency have encouraged volunteers among the residents to become Flood Wardens. The wardens will help residents develop flood actions plans detailing how they will work together to respond as quickly and efficiently as possible in a flood. This will include making sure all the flood products are installed when a warning is received.

The wardens also act as the Environment Agency’s eyes and ears on the ground with a direct line to the Area Incident Room providing information on rising water levels.

Queen’s Square resident Fiona Fraser, said: “The fittings that are on the outside of the property are not in any way obtrusive and do not look out of place. The workmanship was excellent and the products make me feel a lot safer and more confident if the river does flood again or the drains come up due to heavy rain. I did have the opportunity not long after the products were installed to use them and was amazed how easy they were to fit. Each of the four houses helped each other, but luckily the river did not flood on this occasion, but we all felt safer with them on.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Paul Farndale and the Flood Management Team at Kirklees Council for all their help in initiating the installation of the flood products. When the house flooded in 2008, we, at Queens Square, were left out on a limb by all the Emergency Services, but since then Kirklees have bent over backwards to help us and for that we are all thankful.”

Queens Square residents Hannah and Mary Fox are pictured showing off their new flood defences.

To go to the original article click on the link below

http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/news/onlinenews/newsdesk/fullstory.aspx?id=3552