City bosses are set to launch a project aimed at avoiding the kind of devastation suffered during the infamous Thunder Thursday deluge when a month’s worth of rain fell in just two hours.
More than £70m worth of repairs were needed after the colossal downpour in June 2012, also known as the Great Tyneside Storm, and there are fears that the climate emergency will make such extreme weather events a more regular occurrence in the North East.
Politicians will now be asked next week to sign off on the creation of a Newcastle Blue Green City (NBGC) scheme, which will deliver measures to protect the city’s homes and infrastructure from being swamped with water during flash floods.
Newcastle City Council said that it hopes the initiative, which it is expected will ultimately cost tens of millions of pounds, will be a “nationally significant climate resilience project”.
A report published ahead of a meeting of the local authority’s cabinet next Monday states that the city’s sewers “have a limited capacity and cannot cope in heavy rainstorms”, resulting in torrents of flood water running through streets.
The NBGC scheme would see improved sustainable drainage measures – such as more trees and plants, green roofs, ponds and water channels – installed in urban areas to store up rainwater that would otherwise have flowed onto roads and pavements.
A pilot project to manage surface water from the Town Moor and through Exhibition Park is scheduled to run until next year.
Future phases of the scheme, which is planned to run until 2039, would focus on Hunters Moor and Pandon Burn, diverting surface water from Arthur’s Hill away from Gallowgate and the city centre, a longer-term introduction of “green corridors, linkage between cultural and heritage sites and communal spaces” within central Newcastle, and then the broader creation of “net zero neighbourhoods” in residential areas and high streets around the city.
Separately, the Environment Agency is also developing plans for new flood barriers on the Quayside to deal with the growing risk of tidal flooding from the River Tyne – with the North Sea expected to rise by as much as 0.9m by the year 2100.
Labour councillor Marion Williams, the council’s cabinet member leading the response to the climate emergency, said: “The aim of the Newcastle Blue Green City project is to make our city more resilient to flooding, which is becoming more frequent due to climate change. This will be achieved by developing the city’s infrastructure and installing sustainable drainage systems such as rain gardens, swales and green roofs, which are designed to capture and store water to prevent flooding.
“The project will generally focus on the routes of historic watercourses that used to flow through the city, which is where we now see the majority of flooding. The early phases will focus on reducing water run-off rates from the Town Moors and developing a new surface water route to the River Tyne that will increase capacity in existing sewers and reduce flooding around The Gate.
“The project will then be expanded to cover the city centre and local communities.
“To deliver this project, we will work closely with a range of key partners including the Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water and transport providers, as well as charities, businesses and residents. It is part of our ongoing commitment for Newcastle to become net zero by 2030 and make our city the clean, green and more sustainable place we all want it to be.”
