More than 3,500 homeowners across North Tyneside are now benefitting from reduced flood risk, thanks to the completion of a three-year partnership flood reduction scheme.
Since July 2016, Northumbrian Water has been working with North Tyneside Council, the Environment Agency and supply partners, Esh-Stantec, on the £6 million project across Killingworth and Longbenton.
The work has been carried out in three phases, with the first phase involving the installation of a new pipe which allowed partners to divert the Longbenton Letch out of the sewer network and directly into the nearby Forest Hall Letch.
The second phase saw the construction of three natural surface water storage areas on Killingworth Moor, to make sure that the additional flows into Forest Hall Letch would be held back during times of heavy rainfall.
Finally, the latest phase of the project has involved the re-contouring of the south bank of Killingworth Lake and the planting of new trees and shrubs to help manage surface water sustainably.
The project has also brought a number of benefits to the wider environment, such as bat boxes in the nearby Gosforth Park Nature Reserve and the installation of three innovative floating islands on Killingworth Lake.
The islands, or ‘floating eco-systems′ which were planted up with shrubs by children from West Moor Primary School, will help to keep the lake clear by sucking up nutrients and cleansing the water, as well as providing new habitats for wildlife above and below the water.
Steena Nasapen-Watson, Sustainable Sewerage Manager for Northumbrian Water, said:
"We are absolutely delighted to be putting the finishing touches on what has been a huge, joint effort to reduce the risk of flooding across Killingworth and Longbenton.
"We′ve already seen the benefits of this project, where the new storage basins were utilised during the recent heavy rainfall and helped to reduce the impact of surface water flooding locally.”
Leila Huntington, the Environment Agency′s Flood Risk Manager for the North East, added:
"It is fantastic news that the scheme across Killingworth and Longbenton is now complete. We′ve been working closely with Northumbrian Water and North Tyneside Council on developing and delivering this scheme for a number of years.
"Across North Tyneside there is approximately £6.5m of Flood Defence Grant in Aid (FDGiA) being invested between 2015 and 2021, which will help to better protect homes from flooding."
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