I recently visited Environment Agency Lancashire HQ in Bamber Bridge, to discuss flooding, Hubbs House Farm (Colne) and other issues.
I met with Steve Molyneux, Area Environment Manager (Lancashire) and other members of the team and was given a tour of their ‘incident control room’ and a walk through how their staff respond to major flooding incidents.
I was pleased to receive an update on the detailed modelling study of Earby Beck and its tributaries and the proposed flood prevention works in the town. Earby remains the part of Pendle most vulnerable to flooding and despite more than £500,000 being allocated for flood alleviation schemes in early 2016, little work has taken place. I was therefore keen to again push for these schemes to be moved forwards without further delay.
In terms of flood preparedness, the Environment Agency has 6,500 staff trained and ready to support any significant flooding across the country this winter. Since the flooding of 2015/16, the Environment Agency has invested over £12 million in new flood equipment and now has 40km of temporary flood barriers and 250 high volume pumps – including 12 ultra-high volume pumps, ready to be deployed to protect communities from flooding.
Want to know more?
The Flood Warning Service is a free service provided by the Environment Agency to warn you about flooding and provide advice about what to do before, during, or after a flood. Visit www.gov.uk/flood or call Floodline 0345 988 1188