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