A Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme and other flood defence measures are being installed onto Kenton Bar estate – home to over 1,200 residents. The aim of the new scheme is to protect homes, residential properties, shops and Kenton Bar Primary from ”severe” flooding and ponding on footpaths. The well needed programme of works has been welcomed by the school and local residents.
Newcastle City Council has secured £435K of external funding to bring the work about. Kenton Bar school and 54 residential homes in particular have been identified at being at risk from ”surface water flooding”. Ten years ago the local school was flooded and has since continued to have “frequent, significant, disruption” following periods of heavy rainfall. Residents have complained that part of the estate looks like a ”fast moving river” after a heavy rain- storm.
Relief for hundreds of residents
Brian Dickinson, a local Kenton resident and dog walker, praised local councillors for lobbying central government to get the scheme funded. Brian said:
” For years footpaths and fields have been under water after bad storms with what looked like a river flowing down Hartburn Walk. The proposed work should bring relief to hundreds of residents – some of them elderly.”
Residents in the affected area have reported flooding inside their homes during the storms of 2012 and since. The impact of the flooding was severe resulting in serious damage to properties and having an adverse effect on residents mental health and well-being.
Newcastle Council report on flooding
According to a Newcastle Council report a flood risk was carried out which found that the excess water stemmed from the higher ground, south of Kenton Lane, and flowed towards the low-lying areas of Ryal and Hartburn Walk. Kenton School football fields have also been shown to be a major source of the flood flows. During intense rain fall, surface water can’t enter the sewers fast enough causing the water to flood the school and residential homes, getting in through airbricks, garages and over door thresholds.
What’s next?
The new measures to prevent flooding include creating basins on the grassed area to temporarily hold the water, soil embankments, building new walls and improving drainage.
Consultation has begun with the estate’s 1,200 residents, Kenton Bar TARA and both schools including Kenton Academy. The council will be conducting investigations of the ground conditions and nearby trees/habitats in the coming weeks.
