Final part of Morpeth’s multi-million flood defences are complete

The final part of Morpeth’s £27million flood alleviation scheme is complete.

Work to construct Cotting Burn dam was the last piece of work on the multi-million pound joint Environment Agency and Northumberland County Council flood scheme.

Cotting Burn dam will be renamed “The Hargreaves Dam” in memory of RFCC Chairman Jon Hargreaves, who passed away in October 2016.

The dam works alongside other flood protection measures to reduce flood risk to around 1,000 properties in Morpeth.

To reduce the risk of flooding from the River Wansbeck, in-town defences were completed first, followed by the large upstream storage area at Mitford, which has already operated to protect the community.

This year, tree poles were installed into the river near to Lowford Bridge to prevent large debris from reaching the town centre.

The construction of the new dam and storage area, which reduces the risk of flooding from the Cotting Burn, was finished in May and it is now operational.

It reduces the volume of water flowing downstream in large events. The screen on the dam also prevents debris from Cotting Wood from reaching the culvert and causing blockages.

Separate work by Northumberland County Council to address surface water flooding at several locations in the town is underway and scheduled for completion by March 2018 at a cost of £1m.

This is being financed through a government grant from the Environment Agency and county council funding.

The Environment Agency’s Alan Cadas, Operations Manager in the North East, said:

Northumberland County Council contributed £12million, making it one of the first schemes of this scale to be jointly delivered by partners.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, Northumberland County Council’s Cabinet member for Environment and Local Services, said:

Residents are invited to a drop-in session to talk about the flood defences.

It takes place on Friday 21 July, at the Corn Exchange, Morpeth Town Hall, between 2pm and 4pm.