Wyre Flood Forum

Notes from the September meeting

A586 Great Eccleston Bypass 
David Astall reported that the drainage had not yet been cleared and there remained flooding to the cycle path. MC agreed to look into this.

Garstang Flood Barrier

Works to repair the east gate of the Garstang flood barrier are in progress; the gate has now been removed and taken away for repair. Reinstallation of the gate may be delayed until the new year as works are heavily dependent on wind speeds. In the meantime, west gate remains operational.

RB asked why the reinstallation of the Garstang east gate was expected to be further delayed until next year. RT replied that it is expected that the average wind speed over the winter period would be too high to safely crane in the new gate. The gate weighs approximately 18 tonnes with a large surface area and would be extremely difficult to manoeuvre in strong winds. RB asked whether the reason for the failure of the hinge been determined so that the risk of a repeat failure could be minimised. RT replied that that the hinge was deformed and had damaged the concrete to which it was fixed. It is likely that the gate was lifting at a skewed angle which suggests an obstruction to one side of the gate during operation.

CG noted that the west gate is of a similar construction and there is a risk that a similar failure could happen to that one. RT replied that divers had inspected the west gate and were satisfied that it remained in good order.

RW noted that the screen at the bottom of the gate is pushed in at the side next to the piston and the gate itself had a large kink in it. He considered that this was due to the force in the piston and suggested that this could be avoided in future by putting a control on the piston so that the pressure could be dropped if an obstruction between the gate and the wall occurred. RT replied that the gate is manually operated and there are two operatives on site to monitor it. Additionally, there is an automatic cut off to prevent an obstruction blocking the gate closure. He conceded that it looks like one side of the gate may have been obstructed and this caused the gate to skew during lifting – he would ask GK to report back any findings to the Forum.

Property Flood Resilience

AC confirmed that Wyre Council has submitted an application for Property Flood Resilience funding; this is a pot of money for improving property flood resilience by installing flood doors, flood gates or other similar measures to individual properties. Wyre Council has submitted a bid to undertake initial property surveys which will be considered by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) in October. One property in Raikes road has been included

Highways

MC gave a summary of the works undertaken by LCC (Highways);

• The cyclic gulley cleaning programmes A (12-month cleaning cycle) and C (24-month cleaning cycle) are continuing. Additionally, reactive clearing of gulleys (for example, those reported through Love Clean Streets) are also being completed.

Whenever a severe weather event is forecast, it is planned to put a pallet of sandbags outside the entrance to the Singleton works depot that members of the public can access should they need some. This is a pilot scheme to see whether this is a viable option to help residents protect their properties. CG noted that Wyre Council has tried a similar exercise in the past but found that some residents were taking large numbers for themselves and they very soon disappeared.

RB commented that the main consideration during a flooding event is the protection of critical infrastructure and the use of council sandbags should be for protection of pumping stations, telecommunications and electrical substations. He noted that long term forecasts are for heavy rainfall and the clearing of road gullies in advance is critical.

Great Eccleston FLAG
• DA reported that the flood exercise with British Red Cross planned for August did not go ahead. He added that if any other FLAG were interested in a similar event he had details from the previous exercise and would be happy to discuss this.
• DA said that he has received an email from PL concerning the surface water outfall from Raikes Road. The drain discharges through part of UU overflow pipe and UU are looking to remove it from their pipe and install a dedicated outfall into the River Wyre. He noted that the ownership of the land was in dispute following the recent death of the previous owner.
• DA noted that he had undertaken a recent survey of communication cabinets in the village to highlight vulnerable communication infrastructure that could be affected by flooding. He said the FLAG uses the ERAL radio system for communication where normal communications are affected by flooding or similar issues. CG asked that DA forward a copy of his survey for other FLAGs to use as a template.