Northumbria River Basin District Flood Risk Management Plan 2015- 2021 PART B – Sub Areas in the Northumbria River Basin District

March 2016

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2 of 51 Contents

Glossary and abbreviations ...... 4 The layout of this document ...... 6 1. Sub-areas in the Northumbria River Basin District ...... 8 Introduction ...... 8 Flood Risk Areas ...... 9 Management catchments ...... 9 2 Conclusions, objectives and measures to manage flood risk in Northumbria River Basin District catchments ...... 10 2.1. The Catchment ...... 12 Introduction to the River Tees catchment ...... 12 Flood risk maps and statistics ...... 15 Conclusions and objectives for the River Tees catchment ...... 19 Measures across the River Tees catchment ...... 20 2.2. The River Wear Catchment ...... 22 Introduction to the River Wear catchment ...... 22 Flood risk maps and statistics ...... 24 Conclusions and objectives for the River Wear catchment ...... 29 Measures across the River Wear catchment ...... 30 2.3. The Tyne Catchment ...... 31 Introduction to the catchment ...... 31 Flood risk maps and statistics ...... 33 Conclusions and objectives for the River Tyne catchment ...... 38 Measures across the River Tyne catchment ...... 39 2.4. The Rivers Catchment ...... 40 Introduction to the Northumberland rivers catchment ...... 40 Flood risk maps and statistics ...... 42 Conclusions and objectives for the Northumberland rivers catchment ...... 48 Measures to across the Northumbrian rivers catchment ...... 50

3 of 51 Glossary and abbreviations

AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Catchment The watershed of a surface water river system CaBA Catchment based approach: an approach to environmental planning that focuses on local engagement and partnerships CFMP Catchment Flood Management Plan Coastal Groups Voluntary coastal defence groups made up of maritime district authorities and other bodies with coastal defence responsibilities. Cross Border Set up under The Flood Risk (Cross Border Areas) Regulations 2012 (SI No. Advisory Group 1102). A statutory group made up of representatives from SEPA, Environment (CBAG) Agency and local authorities within the cross border areas. DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EPR Environmental Protection Regulations EU European Union FCERM Flood and coastal erosion risk management Floods Directive The European Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) on the assessment and management of flood risks. Flood Risk Area Areas where the risk of flooding from local flood risks is significant as (FRA) designated under the Flood Risk Regulations. Fluvial A term used to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams FRM Flood Risk Management FRMP Flood Risk Management Plan – plan produced to deliver the requirements of the Flood Risk Regulations. Government The term government is used within this report to refer to Defra (the Department for Environment, Flood and Rural Affairs) and Welsh Government. Groundwater Occurs when water levels in the ground rise above the natural surface. Low- flooding lying areas underlain by permeable strata are particularly susceptible. Ha Hectares HLS Higher Level (Environmental) Stewardship HRA Habitats Regulations Assessment: an assessment undertaken in relation to a site designated under the Habitats and Birds Directives Km Kilometres LDF Local Development Framework LLFA Lead Local Flood Authority Local FRM Local flood risk management strategy produced by LLFAs under the Flood and Strategy Water Management Act 2010. Main river A watercourse shown as such on the main river map, and for which the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales has responsibilities and powers MSFW Making Space for Water National FCERM National flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy: these are strategies prepared under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, by the

4 of 51 Strategy Environment Agency for and by Welsh Government for Wales. NNR National Nature Reserve Ordinary All watercourses that are not designated Main River, and which are the watercourses (OW) responsibility of Local Authorities or, where they exist, Internal Drainage Boards. PFRA Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment – these were required to be published by December 2011 and were the first stage in delivering the Regulations. PU Policy Unit Ramsar Wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention Reservoir A natural or artificial lake where water is collected and stored until needed. Reservoirs can be used for irrigation, recreation, providing water supply for municipal needs, hydroelectric power or controlling water flow. Risk management Organisations that have a key role in flood and coastal erosion risk authorities (RMAs) management as defined by the Act. These are the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, lead local flood authorities, district councils where there is no unitary authority, internal drainage boards, water companies, and highways authorities. RFCCs Regional Flood and Coastal Committees River Basin District These are the reporting units to the European Commission for the Water (river basin district) Framework Directive and the Floods Directive. RBMP River Basin Management Plan – plan required by the European Water Framework Directive. Riparian owner Owner of land adjoining, above or with a watercourse running through it. River flooding Occurs when water levels in a channel overwhelms the capacity of the channel. SAC Special Area of Conservation SAM Scheduled Ancient Monument SAMP System Asset Management Plan SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SFRA Strategic Flood Risk Assessment SMP Shoreline Management Plan SPA Special Protection Area SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest SuDS Sustainable Drainage Systems Surface water Flooding from rainwater (including snow and other precipitation) which has not flooding entered a watercourse, drainage system or public sewer. SWMP Surface Water Management Plan UKCIP Climate Impact Projections

5 of 51 The layout of this document

Flood Risk Management Plans have been divided into four sections to help readers identify and access information relevant to them. This is Part B. We have divided the plan into four parts: Section Name Audience 1 Summary Document For those who a high level overview of the plan

2 Part A: Background and river basin district For those who need some legislative wide information background and river basin district wide, high level information 3 Part B: Catchment Summaries For those who want the detail of the sub- areas and flooding statistics. This section includes the catchments based on Water Framework Directive (WFD) management catchments, Flood Risk Areas (identified through the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment) and other strategic areas across the river basin district. 4 Part C: Appendices For those who want to see the detailed program of work for individual communities

Part B of the FRMP documents nationally introduces each of the sub-areas in turn. This section outlines the catchments based on Water Framework Directive (WFD) management catchments, which make up the river basin district, then the Flood Risk Areas (identified through the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment) and other strategic areas across the river basin district. However, there were no Flood Risk areas or other strategic areas identified within the Northumbria RBMP and as such we will be looking at the management catchments only in this document. The other parts of the flood risk management plan are located on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ northumbria-river-basin-district-flood-risk- management-plan)

6 of 51 During December 2015, Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank brought record breaking levels of rainfall and significant flooding to some parts of the country. On 5 and 6 December the highest ever river flows were registered in several large catchments including the Eden, Lune and Tyne. On 25 and 26 December further record river levels were registered for many large rivers draining the . The Met Office confirmed that December 2015 was the wettest on record in parts of the UK, including Cumbria which experienced more than two and a half times expected monthly rainfall.

Across the country over 19,000 homes were flooded, with thousands more affected by loss of power supply and travel disruption. Existing flood defences played an essential part in protecting thousands of homes during December with 12,500 benefitting during Storm Desmond and 10,900 during Storm Eva. Support to affected communities, business and the agricultural sector is in place, along with a programme of inspections and repairs to damaged defences.

It is essential to ensure that we have the very best possible plans in place for flood management across the whole country. In response to the December floods the Government has put in place a National Flood Resilience Review to identify any gaps in our approach and pinpoint where our defences and modelling need strengthening. The Local Flood Partnerships in Cumbria and Yorkshire, set up in response to the December floods will bring together a wide range of organisations and communities to develop Flood Action Plans. These actions will complement the measures in the FRMP and the learning from this approach will be shared across the North West and more widely. The following flood risk areas and catchments were impacted by the December 2015 storms and experienced significant flooding to homes, businesses and infrastructure:  Tyne  Wear  Northumberland

7 of 51 1. Sub-areas in the Northumbria River Basin District

Introduction Within the legislative framework for Flood Risk Management plans, a plan was required for a number of defined areas. These are:  Catchments (which are set out according to WFD Management Catchments)  Flood Risk Areas (identified in the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment): areas that require flood risk management plans for local sources of flooding.

Figure 1: Northumbria River Basin District showing Management Catchments.

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Flood Risk Areas The Flood Risk Management plans were required for Flood Risk Areas. Significant Flood Risk areas as defined by the national guidance were identified through the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment process. There were no Flood Risk Areas identified within the Northumbria River Basin District during the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment process, as defined by the national guidelines. The lead local flood authorities have used the output from the process to feed into their ongoing Local Flood Risk Management Strategies. Management catchments There are 4 catchments within the Northumbria River Basin District, as shown in Figure 1 and outlined below. These are areas where we focus engagement to enable a catchment based approach to water management.

These are the same as the Water Framework Directive management catchments and are:  Tees  Wear  Tyne  Northumberland Rivers – this includes the rivers north of the River Tyne and includes the River Blyth, Wansbeck, Coquet, Aln and a number of the coastal streams draining to the north east coast. It does not include the Tweed and English tributaries of the Tweed which are in the separate Solway Tweed River Basin District As the Flood Risk Management Planning process continues over the years it is likely that these broad catchment areas will be further divided to allow measure to be further focused on operational areas and / or communities.

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2 Conclusions, objectives and measures to manage flood risk in Northumbria River Basin District catchments

The following sections consider the measures for each of the following catchments in the Northumbria river basin district:

Tees Wear Tyne Northumberland

Each section considers an individual catchment and gives a brief description and outline of the catchment and the flood risk within the catchment along with an outline of the measures which are in place to manage flood risk going forward. As this plan considers the flood risk from the main rivers, reservoirs and the sea, there may be additional useful flood risk information available on the relevant council websites. Table 1 below shows the council and the river catchments which fall into their respective areas. It also has a link to either their website, flood risk management page or to their local strategy if that is currently available on line. In order to get a more complete picture of flood risk in an area it is encouraged that these councils are contacted.

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LLFA Relevant management Link to further information catchment County • Tees North Yorkshire County Council Council Local Flood Risk Strategy Redcar and Cleveland • Tees Redcar and Cleveland Council Website Middlesbrough • Tees Middlesbrough Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Stockton • Tees Stockton Council Website • Tees Hartlepool Council Website Darlington • Tees Darlington Council Website Durham County Council • Tees Durham County Council Flood Risk • Wear Website • Tyne City Council • Wear Sunderland City Website • Tyne South Tyneside Council • Tyne South Tyneside Flood Risk Management Pages Gateshead Council • Tyne Gateshead Council Website North Tyneside Council • Tyne North Tyneside Council Local Flood • Northumberland Risk Strategy Newcastle • Tyne Newcastle City Council - Flood Management Team Northumberland • Tyne Northumberland County Council Flood • Northumberland Risk Management Cumbria County Council • Tyne Cumbria County Council Flood Risk Management Pages

Table 1- Lead Local Flood Authorities and links to more information

11 of 51 2.1. The River Tees Catchment

Introduction to the River Tees catchment The River Tees, as shown in Figure 2 is a predominately rural catchment located in the North East of England containing the urban areas of Darlington, Stockton on Tees, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. The Tees drains the eastern slopes of Cross Fell in the Pennines and flows eastward to the . The length of the channel from source to sea is approximately 160 kilometres. The catchment has areas with distinctly different characteristics. The rivers in the Upper Tees have steep channel gradients and valley sides. In the mid-catchment, the valley widens out and channel slopes become much gentler. The lower catchment is close to sea level and predominantly tidal in nature.

The river networks of this catchment drain water falling onto the catchment by discharging into the North Sea at Tees Mouth, south of Hartlepool. River or fluvial flooding is mainly from the River Tees, River Skerne, River Leven and Lustrum Beck with the settlements of Croft, Neasham, Yarm, Darlington, Stokesley and Stockton on Tees particularly at risk. Fluvial flooding also occurs in Guisborough, Loftus and Skinningrove from the coastal streams of the Chapel Beck and Kilton/Whitecliffe Beck. Tidal flooding in the Tees Estuary can result in flooding of low lying areas. Particular areas of concern are Port Clarence and the heavily industrialised areas around Tees Mouth. Concurrent high fluvial flows can exacerbate flooding in the tide locked streams such as Lustrum Beck, Billingham Beck and the Middlesbrough Becks. Figure 2. Overview of the Tees catchment

12 of 51 Land Use and Management The entire Tees management catchment is approximately 1,955 km2 in area and a large proportion is rural and therefore managed, directly or indirectly, for agriculture, forestry, tourism or conservation. The total population of the catchment area is approximately 687,000 people. The western part of the catchment consists of Pennine uplands and sparsely populated rural valleys with small villages and towns, including Middleton-in-Teesdale and Barnard Castle. In contrast, areas adjoining the tidal reach of the river are densely populated and include the major towns of Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Billingham with a tradition of heavy industry including chemicals, steelmaking, oil refining and storage. The east of the catchment is relatively heavily urbanised, with the larger settlements of Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington and Middlesbrough (although the urban areas only amount to 11% of the whole catchment). Rainwater will run off these impermeable urban surfaces at a higher rate than in rural areas, resulting in a rapid rise in river level and higher flood levels. The catchment is rich in its environmental and landscape value, containing a large number of key environmental sites located primarily in the Tees Headwaters. The Skelton and Kilton Beck sub catchment covers an additional area of 145km2. The sub catchment is predominantly rural with a number of larger settlements located along the river corridors, most notably the towns of Guisborough, Skinningrove and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. The major watercourses in this sub catchment are Chapel Beck, which flows through Guisborough and joins Skelton Beck further downstream, and Kilton Beck, which flows through Loftus and Skinningrove.

Geology The geology of the upper Tees catchment consists of impervious bedrock of age, which is, in turn, composed of alternating limestones, shales, sandstones, thin coal seams and Millstone Grit. This has an effect on rainfall runoff by creating an impermeable layer below the upland soils. Coal Measures are exposed over a comparatively small part of the middle catchment but underlie the Magnesian Limestone towards the Durham coast. The lower Tees, including the estuary and the lower Leven, is mainly underlain by Keuper and Bunter marls and sandstones of Triassic age which dip gently towards the southeast. Glaciation has created an undulating landscape over most of the lowlands and, in these areas, the bedrock is rarely exposed. The Skerne catchment is predominantly underlain by permeable Magnesian Limestone of Permian age with a variable cover of of low permeability. Coal Measures occur below the Magnesian Limestone in the Skerne catchment at a progressively greater depth towards the coast. Deep mining has been carried out in the northwest of the catchment in the concealed coalfield at Thrislington and Mainsforth. Both mines shut down in the late 1960s. Sandstones, shales and ironstones of the Lias Group of Jurassic age are exposed in the Cleveland Hills in the Upper Leven and neighbouring catchments. In the past, iron ore was extensively mined in this catchment. Triassic sandstones and marls underlying the lower reaches are generally concealed by glacial drift and alluvium. The major aquifers within the Tees catchment are the Magnesian Limestone and the Keuper and Bunter Sandstones. The Magnesian Limestone is extensively used for water supply, especially by Hartlepool Water for whom groundwater sources form the greater part of their resources. Water table levels intersect the ground surface in valley floors, within river channels and at defined springs and provide dry weather flows in river channels. Drift material covers the solid bedrock throughout the catchment and has an important role in governing runoff and groundwater. As can be seen much of the catchment is covered by deposits of peat and glacial till. This till is of low permeability, as is the peat, which helps to promote rapid runoff from the land from rainfall. The Tees floodplain contains thick deposits of coarse gravels and sands laid down by retreating ice sheets. Gravels and sands can also be found in the estuarine area. There are also notable proportions of clay, silt and sand along the River Leven.

13 of 51 National and International Designations The Tees Catchment has a high conservation value and contains a large number of designated environmental sites covering a wide range of natural, archaeological and heritage sites. The upper part of the catchment is almost entirely within the North Pennines of Natural Outstanding Beauty (AONB). 56 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), 5 Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and 3 Special Protection Areas (SPA) can be found in the headwaters and throughout the catchment.

Partnership Working Within the Tees Catchment we have developed a good working relationship with our partners. There are large number of Lead Local Flood Authorities within the catchment including Durham County Council, Stockton Borough Council, Darlington Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Richmondshire Borough Council, Hambleton District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. There are no Internal Drainage Boards within the Tees Catchment. We work closely with the Lead Local Flood Authorities to help them develop their programme of capital works for flood risk management. We are committed to working with all of these Lead Local Flood Authorities in assisting with the preparation of their LFRMS and also to minimise the impact of new developments on flood risk. We actively seek to work in partnership with the Lead Local Flood Authorities and other risk management authorities (e.g. Ltd) in order to achieve the common goal of reducing flood risk from all sources. For example, we are currently working in partnership with Stockton BC on a flood alleviation scheme to reduce flood risk from the Lustrum Beck. We will also be consulting upstream landowners regarding the potential to use Natural Flood Management techniques. We strive to maintain close links with landowners, environmental organisations (e.g. RSPB, Natural England) and the many commercial industries on Teesside. For instance, the Greatham South/Port Clarence FAS is a current project involving many such partners, including nearby environmental organisations and local industries. All of our flood risk measures, proposals and partnership schemes aim to liaise closely with affected communities and landowners to ensure the best possible outcome for all.

14 of 51 Flood risk maps and statistics Flooding from Rivers and the Sea River or fluvial flooding mainly from the River Tees, River Skerne, River Leven and Lustrum Beck with the settlements of Croft, Neasham, Yarm, Darlington, Stokesley and Stockton on Tees particularly at risk. Fluvial flooding also occurs in Guisborough, Loftus and Skinningrove from the coastal streams of the Chapel Beck and Kilton/Whitecliffe Beck.

Tidal flooding in the Tees Estuary can result in flooding of low lying areas. Particular areas of concern are Port Clarence and the heavily industrialised areas around Tees Mouth. There is also potential for some defences to fail, notably those at Port Clarence, Old River Tees and at Greatham Creek. This was demonstrated during the tidal surge that affected the East Coast in December 2013. Concurrent high fluvial flows can exacerbate flooding in the tide locked streams such as Lustrum Beck, Billingham Beck and the Middlesbrough Becks.

Over 20,000 people are at risk of flooding from Rivers and the Sea in the Tees catchment, representing approx 2.5% of the total population within the catchment. Over 4,000 non residential properties are also considered to be at risk. Approximately 5.5% of the agricultural land within the catchment is at risk of flooding from Reservoirs. Approximately 3.3% of SSSI sites and 74% of Ramsar sites are at risk of flooding in the area.

Fig.3 National Flood Risk Assessment (NAFRA) in the Tees catchment

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Table. 2. Summary of flood risk from rivers and sea to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Tees Catchment.

River and Sea Total in High risk Medium Low risk Very low river risk risk basin district Risk to people: Number of people in area: 811,550 1,700 7,450 11,200 <50

Number of services: 1,370 20 50 50 0

Risk to economic activity:

Number of non-residential properties: 75,050 200 2,150 1,750 <50

Number of airports: 1 0 0 0 0

Length of roads (km): 480 <10 10 10 <10

Length of railway (km): 170 <10 <10 <10 <10

Agricultural land (ha): 109,400 1,050 3,900 1,850 <50

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing 0 0 0 0 0 waters within 50m: Number of EPR installations within 125 2 13 1 0 50m: Area of SAC within area (ha): 39,200 400 350 100 <50

Area of SPA within area (ha): 40,650 600 550 100 <50

Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): 550 200 200 <50 0

Area of World Heritage Site within area 0 0 0 0 0 (ha): Area of SSSI within area (ha): 42,650 650 600 150 <50

Area of Parks and Gardens within area 1,100 <50 <50 <50 <50 (ha): Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument 1,100 <50 <50 <50 0 within area (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within area: 3,660 70 270 130 <10

Number of Licensed water abstractions 140 30 30 <10 0 within the area:

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Flooding from Reservoirs There are six large water supply reservoirs with a combined catchment area of 181km2. The majority of these are in the western part of the catchment, which is also the wettest part. Total reservoir capacity is 88 million litres, of which nearly half is stored in the largest reservoir at Cow Green used entirely for river regulation. Whilst reservoir releases and abstractions have a major impact on low flows, their effect on flood discharges is limited. However, reservoir construction and operation has significantly reduced downstream flood risk. Flood flows are reduced as a result of reservoir storage, which includes a reserve capacity that must be filled before spill occurs. It is likely that the extensive reservoir development in the upper Tees will have altered the natural flood regime not only at the dam site but for the entire length of the river in terms of peak flows and flood volumes. Over 23,000 people live in properties within the Reservoir Map flood extent in the Tees catchment - equating to around 2.8% of the population. Based on these indicative maps, there are also approximately 4,000 non residential properties (5.4%) and 6000Ha of agricultural land (5.5%) within the flood extents.

Fig.4 Reservoir Flood Risk Extents in the Tees Catchment

17 of 51 Table. 3. Summary of flood risk from reservoirs to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Tees Catchment.

Reservoirs Total in river Maximum basin district extent of flooding

Risk to people:

Number of people in area: 811,550 23,200

Number of services: 1,370 100

Risk to economic activity:

Number of non-residential properties: 75,050 4,050

Number of airports: 1 0

Length of roads (km): 480 30

Length of railway (km): 170 <10

Agricultural land (ha): 109,400 6,000

Risk to the natural and historic environment:

Number of EU designated bathing waters within 0 0 50m: Number of EPR installations within 50m: 125 19 Area of SAC within area (ha): 39,200 600 Area of SPA within area (ha): 40,650 800 Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): 550 150

Area of World Heritage Site within area (ha): 0 0

Area of SSSI within area (ha): 42,650 850

Area of Parks and Gardens within area (ha): 1,100 100

Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument within area 1,100 50 (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within area: 3,660 380 Number of Licensed water abstractions within the 140 50 area:

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Other Sources of Flooding Surface water and sewer flooding affect parts of the catchment when intense thunderstorms in urban areas overwhelm the drainage network. This is a particular problem in Darlington where one of the main risks is from surface water being unable to discharge to drains and rivers. There are also similar problems with surface water in Hartlepool, Guisborough, Stockton on Tees, Eston and near Teesside Retail Park. There are known problems with the sewerage system in Yarm and at High Tunstall. The sewer problems on Acklam Road, Middlesbrough lead to flooding through drainage overload. This can be exacerbated by high flows in the Old River Tees. It is suspected that groundwater flooding occurs regularly in the north east of the catchment (particularly in the Skerne catchment), but since the events often result in surface water flooding, they are recorded as such in the records. Although groundwater levels in the Skerne catchment are continuing to rise as a result of mine water rebound, the geology in the Tees catchment means that groundwater is unlikely to be a major problem.

Conclusions and objectives for the River Tees catchment

Conclusions Although the population is relatively small for the land area covered by the large Tees catchment, flooding could affect 3% of the total catchment population (based on 1% AEP event). Whilst this may not seem a high figure, it does represent over 8,000 residential properties that are at risk of flooding from the rivers. The risk of flooding varies through the catchment with the changing character of the landscape and land use. Although there is a rapid, high volume of runoff from the upper part of the Tees, there are a low number of properties at risk of flooding. The rural nature of the catchment means that properties are often isolated and away from urban centres. This makes it a challenge to provide protection to all properties at risk in terms of cost beneficial solutions. There is little natural floodplain storage in the upper catchment to slow the flow of floodwaters to lower reaches. In the Middle Tees the area of natural floodplain increases. Flood waters flow into these large floodplain areas, which helps to reduce flows to downstream areas. The main risk areas in the Lower Tees are around Middlesbrough and Stockton. Problems in this area are exacerbated both by high tides and by the series of urban rivers that drain into the Tees Estuary. Other sources of flooding from reservoirs, surface water, ordinary watercourses, ground water and sewers are also significant throughout this catchment. There have been many reported incidents in recent years of these types of problems affecting householders and businesses. The updated surface water flood maps (December 2013) show a widespread problem. Whilst the area has some challenging flooding problems to address, the amount of undeveloped land available in the catchment means that there is the space to adopt new techniques and practices such as Natural Flood Management to alleviate these problems. Close liaison with landowners will be of key importance in the effectiveness of this method of alleviating flood risk and they are currently being investigated as part of the Lustrum Beck and Guisborough schemes.

19 of 51 Objectives Our objectives when preparing this flood risk management plan have been as follows: Social  Reduce the number of people exposed to each category of flood hazard particularly high and extreme hazard

 Ensure that critical infrastructure remains operational during flood events  Reduce the social impact of flooding on communities at risk, especially in areas where there are high proportions of properties and social assets at risk

Economic  Reduce the direct economic damages to property and agriculture from flooding  Ensure that FRM expenditure follows the level of flood risk in the catchment

Environmental  Protect heritage sites from the effects of flooding and where possible use FRM activities to enhance the landscape

 Maintain and where possible improve the ecological function of designated sites through FRM activities

 Allow river channel processes to operate naturally within the catchment.  No adverse impact on water quality as a result of flooding.

Measures across the River Tees catchment Across the Tees Catchment there are 58 measures that have been identified to manage flood risk. These are summarised below.

Preventing risk: 15 measures  Undertake an assessment to identify culverts which may be removed to reduce flood risk in the West Beck area and Lower Tees  Review the land drainage pumping regimes around Mainsforth Stell, Morden Carrs and Seamer Carr and develop a long term pumping strategy where appropriate  Seek opportunities to provide additional flood plain storage upstream of Croft, Darlington and Billingham.  Undertake assessment of surface water flood risk throughout North Yorkshire area.  Carry out assessment of flood risk at historic parks and buildings and investigate opportunities to prevent flooding impacting the fabric of the area, includes Lartington and Rokeby Parks  Develop an operational catchment plan for North Yorkshire County Council to maximise effectiveness of flood risk management funds

20 of 51  Develop a Flood Risk Management Tool Kit of useful information and advice to support communities in managing flood risk  Seek opportunities to restore Peat Bogs to reduce flood risk on the Lower Tees areas

Preparing for risk: 28 measures  Assessing Flood Risk to infrastructure and developing emergency plans for them to ensure that they are resilient to flood risk, across all the catchment (7 measures)  Establishing and maintaining a register for flood risk assets to ensure that they are identified and maintained across all Lead Local Flood Authorities areas (7 Measures)  Develop and maintain local and multi agency flood plans to ensure areas are prepared for flooding across LLFA areas (7 measures).  Develop Rapid Response Catchment Action Plans for the Middlesbrough Becks to inform communities and prepare emergency plans  Investigate groundwater flooding and where possible develop flood warning procedures for areas within North Yorkshire County Council area

Protecting from risk: 12 measures  Develop flood protection schemes at Lustrum Beck and Port Clarence.  Improve flood plain usage in the upper catchments reducing flood flows in the lower catchments throughout the Tees, Skerne and Greatham by assessing redundant flood banks.  Develop where justified a flood bank refurbishment scheme for the Oxney Flatts area  Investigate and develop flood protection schemes where funding can be secured for areas around Stokesley, Guisborough and Staindrop

Recovery and review of risk: 3 measure  Around reviewing flooding to identify assets implicated in impacting on flooding and develop strategy to manage those assets across North Yorkshire County Council area.

21 of 51 2.2. The River Wear Catchment

Introduction to the River Wear catchment The Wear catchment is found in the North East of England. The Wear rises in the North Pennine Moors with the area draining between Killhope Law and . The Wear catchment has distinctly different landscapes within it. The upper part of the catchment is almost entirely within the North Pennines, characterised by upland heather and peat moors, steep sided valleys and narrow valley bottoms and small market towns. As the river descends through the catchment it passes through a more agricultural landscape of wider valleys and more open floodplains. The many streams draining this area eventually come together to form the start of the River Wear at in . Two other major rivers in the North East of England rise in the Pennines with 20 miles of the Wear. These are the Tees and the Tyne, which border the Wear to the South and North respectively. The Wear catchment includes the Rivers Gaunless, Deerness and Browney as its major tributaries. The catchment area also includes a number of small Coastal Streams that are not connected hydrologically to the River Wear. The major streams are Castle Eden Burn, Thorpe Burn and Seaton Burn.

Figure 5 Overview of the Wear Catchment

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Land Use and Population The entire Wear management catchment is approximately 1,080 sq km in area and a large proportion is rural and therefore managed, directly or indirectly, for agriculture, forestry, tourism or conservation. More than 650,000 people live within the catchment area. Apart from the small market towns in the upper reaches, the majority of people live in the lower reaches of the catchment where the landscape becomes more heavily urbanised. Major urban areas of Durham, Chester-le-Street and Sunderland have built up on the banks of the Wear through the ages. The Wear eventually flows out to the North Sea through Wearmouth at Sunderland where it meets the boundary of the North East Coastal Authority group’s shoreline management. Geology The underlying geology of the Wear Catchment area is of Carboniferous age. Coal Measures, Millstone Grit, Upper and Lower Limestone dominate the geology of the upper Wear catchment. The majority of the uplands of the catchment is underlain by Millstone Grit; whilst this layer is permeable, it overlies impermeable soils. Coal Measures and Magnesian Limestone are predominant in the middle and lower reaches and the Coastal Streams area.

National and International Designations The Wear catchment has distinctly different landscapes within it. The upper part of the catchment is almost entirely within the North Pennines AONB. Within the uplands are the North Pennines Moors and the North Pennines Dales, both of which are designated as important environmental sites under the Habitats Directive. Numerous Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) can be found in the headwaters and throughout the catchment. The and Cathedral World Heritage Site sits in the catchment.

Partnership Working Within the Wear Catchment, Risk Management Authorities (RMAs) have developed a good working relationship. There are two Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) in the catchment; Durham County Council and . There are no Internal Drainage Boards within the Wear Catchment. We work closely with the LLFAs to help them develop their programme of capital works for flood risk management. We are committed to working with these LLFAs in assisting with their LFRMS and to minimise the impact of new developments on flood risk. In addition to Local Authorities, a number of organisations and individuals have a role to play in managing flood risk; Highway Authorities, Network Rail, Rivers Trusts, Northumbrian Water. We strive to maintain close links with landowners, environmental organisations and commercial businesses within the catchment. It is essential that all main organisations and decision-makers in the Wear catchment work together, to plan and take action to reduce any unacceptable flood risk whilst improving the environment where possible. The purpose of consultation is to guide and help us with issues such as technical matters, identifying sources of information, completing the communications plan and agreeing results. All flood risk measures, proposals and partnership schemes aim to liaise closely with affected communities and landowners to ensure the best possible outcomes.

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Flood risk maps and statistics Flooding from Rivers and the Sea

Figure 6. National Flood Risk Assessment (NAFRA) in the Wear Catchment

River and Sea Flooding The River Wear has a long and varied flood history with significant events occurring in the 1940s, 1960s, 1990s and most recently in 2000, 2005 and 2015. Due to the differences in the catchments between the main river Wear and the tributary rivers catchment, wide floods are rare and flooding generally occurs on either the Wear, or the tributaries, but rarely on both at the same time. The largest floods on the Wear have historically been associated with winter storms, when milder weather fronts have resulted in significant volumes of rainfall falling and melting large amounts of lying snow in the upper catchment. Flooding has occurred in all of the principal settlements along the Wear including Stanhope, Frosterly and in the upper areas. While recent floods have flooded limited areas of Durham City, major flooding did occur in the 1960s flooding areas around the Framwellgate and riverside and up towards the rugby grounds and rowing club to the east of the city.

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Table 4: Summary flood risk from rivers and sea to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Wear Catchment.

River and Sea Total in High risk Medium Low risk Very low river risk risk basin district Risk to people: Number of people in area: 658,000 700 1,150 4,350 <50

Number of services: 1,010 10 <10 10 0

Risk to economic activity:

Number of non-residential properties: 48,500 550 400 700 0

Number of airports: 0 0 0 0 0

Length of roads (km): 350 <10 <10 <10 0

Length of railway (km): 90 <10 <10 <10 0

Agricultural land (ha): 58,800 2,100 650 800 <50

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing 0 0 0 0 0 waters within 50m: Number of EPR installations within 14 1 0 1 0 50m: Area of SAC within area (ha): 11,750 50 <50 <50 <50

Area of SPA within area (ha): 11,450 50 <50 <50 <50

Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): <50 <50 0 <50 0

Area of World Heritage Site within area <50 <50 0 <50 0 (ha): Area of SSSI within area (ha): 12,750 100 50 <50 <50

Area of Parks and Gardens within area 1,400 150 <50 <50 <50 (ha): Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument 400 <50 <50 <50 0 within area (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within area: 1,930 70 30 40 <10

Number of Licensed water abstractions 60 20 <10 <10 0 within the area:

25 of 51 There are over 6,000 people at risk of flooding from Rivers and the Sea in the Wear catchment, representing approximately 1% of the total population within the catchment. Over 1,500 non residential properties are also considered to be at risk. Approximately 6% of the agricultural land, 1.7 % of SSSI sites and 68% of Ramsar sites are at risk from river/sea flooding in the area.

Flooding from Reservoirs Non-natural or artificial sources of flooding can include reservoirs, canals and lakes, where water is retained above natural ground level. Flooding from these sources is most likely to occur as a result of a catastrophic failure of a retaining structure such as a dam wall. This type of flooding can occur without any warning, with devastating and often fatal consequences. As control and management to prevent this type of flooding occurring lies under the Reservoir Act 1975 which the Environment Agency now enforce, it is not likely that the maximum extent flood would occur in the catchment.

Figure 7 Reservoir Flood Risk in the Wear catchment

26 of 51 Table 5. Summary flood risk from reservoirs to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Wear catchment.

Reservoirs Total in river Maximum basin district extent of flooding Risk to people: Number of people in area: 658,000 6,550 Number of services: 1,010 20

Risk to economic activity: Number of non-residential properties: 48,500 950 Number of airports: 0 0 Length of roads (km): 350 <10 Length of railway (km): 90 <10 Agricultural land (ha): 58,800 1,900

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing waters within 50m: 0 0 Number of EPR installations within 50m: 14 1 Area of SAC within area (ha): 11,750 <50 Area of SPA within area (ha): 11,450 <50 Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): <50 0 Area of World Heritage Site within area (ha): <50 <50 Area of SSSI within area (ha): 12,750 <50 Area of Parks and Gardens within area (ha): 1,400 100 Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument within area 400 <50 (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within area: 1930 130 Number of Licensed water abstractions within the 60 20 area:

Over 6,500 people live in properties within the Reservoir Map flood extent in the Wear Catchment – equating to approximately 1% of the population. Based on these indicative maps, there are also approximately 935 non residential properties (1.9%) and 1800ha of agricultural land (3%) within the reservoir flood extents. Flooding can come from a number of different sources as highlighted above. Flood flows within rivers can be contributed to by overtopping of reservoirs, particularly in winter times when reservoir capacity could be exceeded following prolonged rainfall. This would end up as contributing to fluvial flooding. Without being able, at present, to model flood risk from sources other than fluvial or tidal it is not possible to quantify accurately the scale of flood risk from various possible sources for the catchment. During recent large scale events of national significance, however, it is estimated that in autumn 2000, 30% of all properties flooded were from non-fluvial or tidal sources, rising to 54% for the summer 2007 floods. We therefore recognise the need to understand flood risk from other sources better.

27 of 51 Other Sources of Flooding The main source of flooding in the catchment is from the rivers, there are no known groundwater flooding problems. Given the large urban areas in the east of the catchment there are some instances of surface water flooding where intense rainfall can exceed the capacity of the urban drainage systems.

Coastal Erosion Shoreline management plans (SMPs) are large-scale assessments of the risks associated with coastal processes. SMPs provide the basis for policies for a length of coast and set the framework for managing risk along the coastline in the future. The SMP of relevance to the Wear Catchment area is the River Tyne to Flamborough Head SMP. The River Tyne to Flamborough Head SMP2 was published in February 2007, and has developed an action plan for works which has been taken into account in this plan.

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Conclusions and objectives for the River Wear catchment Conclusions More than 650,000 people live within the Catchment, the majority of who are found in the lower reaches where the landscape becomes more heavily urbanised. Major urban areas of Durham, Chester-le-Street and Sunderland have built up on the banks of the Wear through the ages. The Wear eventually flows out to the North Sea through Wearmouth at Sunderland Whilst the population is large for the catchment there is a small percentage of the population at high risk from flooding. Other sources of flooding from reservoirs, surface water, ordinary water courses, ground water and sewers are significant in this catchment. There have been many reported incidents in recent years of these types of problems affecting householders and businesses. The updated surface water flood maps (December 2013) show a widespread problem. Whilst the area has some challenging flooding problems to address, the amount of undeveloped land available in the catchment means that there is the space to adopt new techniques and practices to alleviate these problems. Objectives Our objectives when preparing this flood risk management plan have been as follows: Social  Reduce risk to people  Promote understanding of flood risk

 Work in partnership with all of our stakeholders including landowners affected by any of our assets/work.

 Prepare communities and build resilience

 Minimise community disruption

 Consider flood risk in Development Plans

 Maintain existing assets that protect people

 River, watercourse and tidal defence maintenance Economic  Reduce economic damage to property and agriculture from flooding  Maintain existing assets that protect business  Protect transport services  Minimise flood risk to agricultural Land  Protect tourism when undertaking flood risk management Environmental  Achieve WFD objectives through flood risk management  Protect designated nature conservation sites  Protect designated heritage sites

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Measures across the River Wear catchment

Across the Wear Catchment there are 26 measures to manage flood risk include. These are summarised below. Preventing risk: 6 measures  Seek opportunities to carryout woodland planting in the upper catchments and where studies have indicated in the floodplain in the Upper Wear and within the Lumley Park Burn and Browney Catchments to assist in slowing flows and improving flood plain storage  Seek opportunities to raise bridges to reduce flow constrictions on the Beechburn Beck through settlements such as Crook  Further develop the stand alone flood scheme for Chester le Street in addition to the new flood defence upstream of the culvert. This could include measures to day light culverts to improve conveyance through the town  Develop habitat creation opportunities in the tidal River Wear and Coastal Streams which have a positive impact on flood risk or as opportunities for compensatory habitat for other schemes  Avoid inappropriate development in the flood plain, maintaining watercourses, managed realignment of defences and improving our understanding of all sources of flooding to inform future flood risk management. Preparing for risk: 8 measures  Assessing Flood Risk to infrastructure and developing emergency plans for them to ensure that they are resilient to flood risk, across all the catchment  Establishing and maintaining a register for flood risk assets to ensure that they are identified and maintained across the whole catchment.  Carry out a Flood Warning Improvement Study in order to improve the existing flood warning process across the tidal River Wear and in Lanchester

Protecting from risk: 12 measures  Undertake and assessment of agricultural assets to determine if abandonment or reduced maintenance is justified, defences to be assessed include those around Chester Le Street, Houghall, Witton le Wear, Old Durham Beck, Browney and the Gaunless (4 Measures)  Following assessment of defences look for opportunities to work in partnership to create habitat improvements and recreate natural flood plain in areas identified in assessment (3 Measures)  Carry out a strategic assessment of flood storage upstream of Durham and Lanchester to maximise flood plain usage to reduce flood risk in target communities  Investigate and develop flood protection schemes for Tindale Beck  Carry out coastal flooding study around Seaburn to identify opportunities to reduce risk Recovery and review of risk:  There are no measures over and above our existing flood risk work.

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2.3. The Tyne Catchment

Introduction to the River Tyne catchment

The River Tyne is generally a rural catchment with an agricultural based landscape in the west and the cities of Newcastle and Gateshead located in the eastern portion of the area. The headwaters drain remote moorland and flow through narrow, steep valleys. Within the upland area of the North Tyne, Rede and Derwent there are a number of regionally important water supply reservoirs including Kielder and Derwent Reservoirs. These reservoirs can affect flood flows and are also able to maintain river flows in the Tyne, Wear and Tees rivers via water transfer infrastructure. The middle catchment contains fertile agricultural plains with a string of towns along the watercourses. The lower sections of the catchment are more urban and include the Newcastle and Gateshead areas. The River Tyne flows into the North Sea and is tidally influenced from Wylam to the coast.

Figure 8 Overview of the River Tyne Catchment

The River Tyne catchment includes the main river systems of the North and South Tyne, Tyne, Rede, Allen, Team, Derwent, Ouseburn and Don. There are many ordinary watercourses which feed into these main rivers. Much of the western area of the catchment is dominated by narrow, steep side valleys. The high catchment relief produces steep river gradients of between 1% and 10% within the river Tyne’s headwaters and 0.1% towards its tidal reaches. With the exception of the upper reaches of the Ouseburn, all major tributaries have similarly steep river gradients.

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Land Use and Management The Tyne catchment is approximately 2,926 km2 in area and predominantly rural, the main urban areas being in the east of the catchment namely Newcastle and Gateshead. The total population in the catchment area is approximately 1,039,360 people. Urban land-use occupies around 7.3% of the catchment area. Urban areas within the catchment include the city of Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. As well as these larger areas, there are a number of smaller towns. These include, Hexham, , Haltwhistle, Alston and Bellingham. Surface water flooding can cause problems in all these urban areas. The heavily urbanised catchments are the Ouseburn, Team and Don.

Geology Rocks from the carboniferous period lie entirely under the Tyne area. This carboniferous strata dips eastwards, with the oldest rocks located in the northwest in the River North Tyne sub-catchment. These rocks are of the Wenlock, basalt and carboniferous limestone series. The majority of the South Tyne sub-catchment is dominated by carboniferous limestone and millstone grit, whilst coal measures outcrop into the Lower Tyne and Derwent catchments. The influence of geology on flooding within the River Tyne is reduced by the large extent and low permeability of overlying drift material. However, some small areas of exposed rock occur on higher ground. Areas of millstone grit within the River South Tyne catchment encourage surface runoff, whilst there is less runoff from the more permeable carboniferous limestone within the River North Tyne catchment. This means that the River South Tyne responds to rainfall more and quicker compared to the River North Tyne.

National and International Designations Much of the upland catchment lies within the North Pennine Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). In addition there are eighty seven Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as well as all or part of nine Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and two Special Protection Areas (SPA) within the catchment. There is a rich cultural heritage, including 530 Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAM), part of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, 14 Registered Parks and Gardens and two Registered Historic Battlefields.

Partnership Working Within the Tyne Catchment we have developed a good working relationship with our partners. The majority of the catchment falls within the lead local flood authority (LLFA) boundary of Northumberland County Council. Parts of the upper reaches of the River South Tyne fall within the Eden District Council area and Upper reaches of the River Derwent fall under Durham County Council. The more heavily urbanised area of the catchment in the east is split between four Lead Local Flood Authorities – Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Council. They published their Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) in 2012, and are working with us to prepare an updated version in the light of the new flood hazard mapping and other new data. Northumbria Water Limited is a risk management authority dealing with the sewer network for the whole of the North East of England. Strategic partnerships have been established between risk management authorities of which there are two for the Tyne Catchment – Northumberland Strategic Partnership and Strategic Partnership. All of our flood risk measures, proposals and partnership schemes aim to liaise closely with affected communities and landowners to ensure the best possible outcome for all.

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Flood risk maps and statistics Flooding from Rivers and the Sea The topography and prevailing climate of the Tyne headwaters combine to produce floods which travel downstream very quickly, in comparison to other rivers of similar size. Flood peaks travel the 40 km between Alston and Haydon Bridge on the South Tyne in about three hours (average speed 13 km/h), and between Kielder dam and Bellingham on the North Tyne (17 km) in about 3.5 hours (average speed 5 km/h). On the North Tyne tributary, the Rede, floods move at an average speed of 9 km/h. Below the North Tyne/South Tyne confluence, flood peaks slow to around 8 km/h at Bywell, as the gradient lessens and the river widens. Generally the North Tyne responds after the peak in the South Tyne has passed the confluence, so that the hydrograph at Bywell has a long falling limb, but does not represent the combined peak flow in both tributaries.

Figure 9 Flood Risk in the River Tyne catchment The extent and depth of flooding within the tidal reaches of the catchment have been obtained from flood zone 2 maps and a previous detailed modelling study. The upstream extent of tidal flood risk is at Wylam on the River Tyne and at locations on the lower reaches of adjoining tributaries such as the Derwent, Team, Ouseburn and Don. Tidal lag times between the river mouth at North Shields and flood risk areas upstream are very short (less than five minutes at Newcastle bridges, a distance of 16 km), and demonstrate the speed of tidal inflow along the River Tyne.

Table.6. Summary flood risk from rivers and sea to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Tyne catchment.

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River and Sea Total in High Medium Low risk Very low river risk risk risk basin district Risk to people: Number of people in area: 1,039,500 1,100 1,600 3,700 <50

Number of services: 1,460 20 10 20 0

Risk to economic activity:

Number of non-residential 67,750 700 600 1,250 <50 properties: Number of airports: 0 0 0 0 0

Length of roads (km): 430 <10 <10 <10 0

Length of railway (km): 140 <10 <10 10 0

Agricultural land (ha): 59,950 3,350 700 1,300 <50

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated 0 0 0 0 0 bathing waters within 50m: Number of EPR installations 31 1 2 1 0 within 50m: Area of SAC within area (ha): 41,950 200 150 <50 <50

Area of SPA within area (ha): 38,500 100 150 <50 <50

Area of RAMSAR site within area 150 <50 0 <50 0 (ha): Area of World Heritage Site within 23,100 500 250 850 0 area (ha): Area of SSSI within area (ha): 53,350 350 250 100 <50

Area of Parks and Gardens within 700 50 <50 <50 <50 area (ha): Area of Scheduled Ancient 1,900 <50 <50 <50 0 Monument within area (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within 3,570 120 50 100 0 area: Number of Licensed water 100 30 0 <10 0 abstractions within the area:

All aspects of flooding from the sea are documented in shoreline management plans. For details relating to the risks and management of flooding from the sea please refer to the St. Abbs Head to Flamborough Head SMP. Over 6,350 people are at risk of flooding from Rivers and the Sea in the Tyne catchment, representing approx 0.6% of the total population within the catchment. Over 2,550 non residential properties are also considered to be at risk. Approximately 9% of the agricultural land within the catchment is at risk of flooding from rivers and sea. Approximately 4% of SSSI sites and 13.3% of Ramsar sites are at risk of flooding in the area. 34 of 51

Flooding from Reservoirs The location of reservoirs in the upper reaches of the North Tyne and Derwent river catchments represents a very small flood risk to areas downstream. Whilst failure of the dams could have a devastating effect due to the volume of water and the speed of flooding, the chance of this happening is very small given the standards of engineering and design used when building the dams.

Over 23,400 people live in properties within the Reservoir Map flood extent in the Tyne catchment - equating to around 2.3% of the population. Based on these indicative maps, there are also approximately 7,200 non residential properties (10.7%) and 5900 Ha of agricultural land (9.8%) within the flood extents.

Other Sources of Flooding Surface water and sewer flooding affect the catchment. Previous Phase 1 flood risk mapping studies have shown that the blockage of culverts and bridges is a potential cause of surface water flooding on numerous small streams throughout the catchment area. For example: Sugly Dene, Monkton Burn, Wallsend Dene and the Don within the Tyneside conurbation; also Tipalt Burn, Dews Green Burn and Brotherley Sike within the River South Tyne catchment; and Cockshaw Burn/Halgut Burn and Skinnersburn within the catchment of the non-tidal River Tyne. Solutions to this source of flooding include reducing the amount of runoff entering the drainage system, the re-design of culvert screens, and frequent maintenance to reduce the potential for blockages or malfunction. The use of flood warning in the areas affected is made difficult due to the short travel times associated with this type of flooding. Our Flood Maps for Surface Water Flooding show many areas at risk across the catchment. Groundwater flooding There are outcrops of permeable magnesian limestone aquifer in the south east of the Tyne catchment, and of permeable sandstone in the North Tyne sub-catchment and mixed with the south east coal measures. There are no historic records of flooding associated with groundwater in the catchment. Coastal Erosion Erosion of the coast between Whitley Bay and Whitburn is under the management of the Coast Protection Authority (CPA) – North Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Council respectively. Both CPA’s are working towards the management policies identified in the Shoreline Management Plan’s.

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Figure 10 Reservoir flooding in the River Tyne catchment.

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Table: 7. Summary flood risk from reservoirs to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Tyne catchment.

Reservoirs Total in river Maximum basin district extent of flooding Risk to people: Number of people in area: 1,039,500 23,400 Number of services: 1,460 120

Risk to economic activity: Number of non-residential properties: 67,750 7,250 Number of airports: 0 0 Length of roads (km): 430 30 Length of railway (km): 140 40 Agricultural land (ha): 59,950 5,900

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing waters 0 0 within 50m: Number of EPR installations within 50m: 31 12 Area of SAC within area (ha): 41,950 100 Area of SPA within area (ha): 38,500 100 Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): 150 <50 Area of World Heritage Site within area (ha): 22,100 500 Area of SSSI within area (ha): 53,350 250 Area of Parks and Gardens within area (ha): 700 100 Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument within 1900 50 area (ha): Number of Listed Buildings within area: 3,570 420 Number of Licensed water abstractions within 100 30 the area:

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Conclusions and objectives for the River Tyne catchment

Conclusions Whilst the population is small for the land area covered by the large Tyne catchment, the flood risk to the population is relatively small. The heavily modified nature of parts of the catchment introduces further manmade risk in the form of channelized watercourses and loss of floodplain. Other sources of flooding from reservoirs, surface water, ordinary water courses, ground water and sewers are also significant in this catchment. There have been many reported incidents in recent years of these types of problems affecting householders and businesses. The updated surface water flood maps (December 2013) show a widespread problem. Whilst the area has some challenging flooding problems to address, the amount of undeveloped land available in the catchment means that there is the space to adopt new techniques and practices to alleviate these problems. In December 2015 Storm Desmond crossed the north of England. During the 4th and 5th of December over 100mm of rain fell across the catchment in 24 hours (over 150mm in parts of the South Tyne) The resultant river flows were the highest recorded since 1771 in some places. The rivers flooded a number of communities including Haydon Bridge, Warden, Hexham, Corbridge and Ovingham. In total more than 200 properties flooded across the catchment. Later in December, Storm Eva brought more heavy rainfall and some communities were flooded for the second time in a matter of weeks. Objectives Our objectives when preparing this flood risk management plan have been as follows: Social  Reduce the number of people exposed to each category of flood hazard, particularly high and extreme hazard.  Ensure that critical infrastructure remains operational during flood events.  Reduce the social impact of flooding on communities at risk, especially in areas where there is a high proportion of properties and social assets at risk. Economic  Reduce the direct economic damages to property and agriculture from flooding.  Ensure that FRM expenditure follows the level of flood risk in the catchment. Environmental  Maintain and where possible improve the ecological function designated sites through FRM activities.  Allow river channel processes to operate naturally within the catchment.  No adverse impact on water quality as a result of flooding.  Protect heritage sites from the effects of flooding and where possible use FRM activities to enhance the landscape.

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Measures across the River Tyne catchment

Across the Tyne Catchment there are 28 measures to manage flood risk. These are summarised as follows. The measures are described more fully in the appendices:

Preventing risk: 10 measures  Investigate opportunities to protect properties around Killingworth, Longbenton and Gosforth  Developing a register of structures which may impact on flood risk and ensure that such structures are maintained (6 Measures)  Promote creation of flood plain woodland where the research indicates that it would have a beneficial in the North Tyne and South Tyne Catchments  Within the upland peat areas seek opportunities to block grips and drainage channels where there is evidence it will reduce run off rates in the North Tyne and South Tyne Catchments Preparing for risk: 10 measures  Ensure that key infrastructure can operate during flooding or recover rapidly after flooding. This will assist in making communities more resilient to flooding and speeds up the recovery process. This action is assigned to all 6 LLFAs across the catchment  Produce a Rapid Response Catchment Action Plan for Otterburn, Bellingham, Alston and Blackhall Mill so the community will be more aware of flood risk and be able to respond and recover more quickly Protecting from risk: 8 measures  Improving flood plain storage in the upper catchments of the Rede, South Tyne, Tyne and Team to reduce peak flood flows in the lower catchments (4 measures)  Seek opportunities to reduce the impact of flooding from the Red Burn to properties in Acomb  Carry out an assessment of water company assets to ensure they are operational and resilient at all times across the catchment  Seek opportunities within the catchment to create habitat creation opportunities and to improve flood plain connectivity on the River Don  Investigate the opportunity and feasibility of providing improved flood protection to Newcastle Quayside area Recovery and review of risk: there are no ongoing measures over and above our existing flood risk work

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2.4. The Northumberland Rivers Catchment

Introduction to the Northumberland rivers catchment The Northumberland Rivers catchment is a predominantly rural catchment that includes the towns of Morpeth, Alnwick and Blyth. Topography is highly variable across the FRMP area. Land rises from sea level at the North Sea coast to a maximum altitude of 815m above sea level in the Cheviots. A small proportion of the FRMP area in the south west overlaps with the hills of the North Pennines where elevations approach 300m AOD. The eastern areas of the FRMP area are lower lying. The Northumberland Rivers catchment includes the Rivers Coquet, Blyth, Aln, Wansbeck, Font and many other smaller watercourses. The main watercourses flow easterly towards the coast. The Blyth, Wansbeck, Coquet and Aln all have estuarine areas in the lower reaches. Erosion of the coastline is an ongoing process on the east coast. It causes localised problems but does not threaten large numbers of properties. There are no flood defence schemes on the coast which protect any significant numbers of properties. The climate is changing and this is likely to have an impact on flooding and coastal erosion. Sea levels are rising and winter rainfall may become more intense. Changes in weather patterns and, in particular, more torrential rainfall is likely to increase flood risk from surface water and ordinary watercourses as well as rivers. Rising sea levels mean that waves and storm surges could cause greater coastal erosion. Changes to the currents acting on the coast could also lead to changes in the movement of coastal sediments, affecting both coastal deposition and erosion. This could expose new risks from coastal flooding, lead to a greater risk of coastal defences failing and increase the need for maintenance work on defences and more extensive warning systems.

Land Use & Population The entire Northumberland Rivers catchment is approximately 2,991 km2 in area and predominantly rural with the south east being the most urbanised area. The main urban areas include Morpeth, Alnwick, and Blyth. Other smaller urban centres are Rothbury, Cramlington, Ashington, Bedlington and Ponteland. The total population in the catchment area is approximately 277,000 people. Significant urban growth areas have been identified around Morpeth in particular but also in the Cramlington and Blyth area. The catchment relies heavily on agriculture and tourism, with twelve areas in these catchments designated as bathing waters.

Geology The underlying geology of the northern area is made up of carboniferous limestone, andesitic and basaltic lavas, and granite, while the southern areas of the catchment comprise of millstone grit and coal measures. Between the 2 and along the coastal areas the geology comprises of igneous and sedimentary rocks including cementstone, sandstone and limestone.

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Figure 11 – The Northumberland Rivers catchment

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National and International Designations Ecological diversity is recognised by a suite of national designations, including a large Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) and Listed Buildings are also found throughout the catchment.

Flood Risk Management Partnerships Within the Northumberland Rivers Catchment we have developed a good working relationship with our partners. The lead local flood authority (LLFA) for the vast majority of the FRMP is Northumberland County Council (NCC). The area also includes small areas of 2 other LLFAs – North Tyneside and Newcastle City, all of whom we are committed to working closely with to assist in the preparation of their LFRMS. We are working in partnership with Northumberland County Council on the Morpeth Flood Alleviation Scheme, due for completion Autumn 2015. The Northumberland Catchment Partnership comprises representatives of various internal Environment Agency functions including FCRM plus: Northumberland Rivers Trust (NRT) Northumberland Wildlife Trust (NWT) Northumbrian Water (NWL) Natural England (NE) National Farmers Union (NFU) Northumberland County Council (NCC) Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) The Coast Group includes local ports, the Association for Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA), European Marine sites, Natural England, Tyne Rivers Trust and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Flood risk maps and statistics

The main sources of flood risk for people, property, infrastructure and the land are: River and Sea Flooding  River, or fluvial, flooding from the Rivers Pont, Blyth, Wansbeck, Coquet and Aln and their tributaries. Particular areas at risk are Morpeth, Rothbury, and Ponteland. Many of the communities on these rivers benefit from defences, the Morpeth defences were completed in late 2015 and protected the town from flooding during the winter storms of 2015/6.  Tidal flooding from the sea. The largest town at risk is Blyth. There are various small communities along the coast which are vulnerable to coastal flooding such as Seahouses, Warkworth, Waren Mill, and Alnmouth.

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Figure 12 Flood Risk in the Northumberland catchment

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Table. 8 Summary flood risk from rivers & sea to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Northumberland catchment. River & Sea Total in High risk Medium Low risk Very low river risk risk basin district Risk to people: Number of people in area: 277,400 2,800 2,700 4,800 <50 Number of services: 830 30 10 10 0

Risk to economic activity: Number of non-residential properties: 32,250 650 550 600 <50 Number of airports: 1 0 0 0 0 Length of roads (km): 280 <10 <10 <10 0 Length of railway (km): 140 <10 <10 <10 0 Agricultural land (ha): 130,500 3,350 2,050 1,600 <50

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing 2 2 0 0 0 waters within 50m: Number of EPR installations within 12 0 0 1 0 50m: Area of SAC within area (ha): 4,200 400 100 0 150

Area of SPA within area (ha): 750 350 50 50 0 Area of RAMSAR site within area 0 (ha): 750 300 50 50 Area of World Heritage Site within 0 0 0 0 0 area (ha): Area of SSSI within area (ha): 9,650 1,200 450 250 0 Area of Parks and Gardens within area (ha): 3,050 200 50 0 50 Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument within area (ha): 800 <50 <50 <50 0

Number of Listed Buildings within 2,940 130 50 70 0 area: Number of Licensed water 80 20 <10 <10 0 abstractions within the area:

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Reservoir Flooding There is one large raised reservoir within the catchment. Fontburn Reservoir is located on the upper reaches of the Font and supplies water to the North Shields area. It has a storage capacity of 3.28 million m3 and a surface area of around 0.4km2 when full. The reservoir is not normally operated to regulate downstream river flow and so does not contribute to flood risk management. There are a number of smaller reservoirs which do not have any flood risk management purpose but which do pose a risk. Our recently published Flood Risk Maps for Reservoirs show around 3,400 people at risk from flooding resulting from failure of a reservoir within the Northumberland Rivers catchment. Table.9. Summary flood risk from reservoirs to people, economic activity and the natural and historic environment across the Northumberland Catchment.

Reservoirs Total in river basin Maximum extent district of flooding Risk to people: Number of people in area: 277,400 3,400

Number of services: 830 10

Risk to economic activity: Number of non-residential properties: 32,250 600

Number of airports: 1 0 Length of roads (km): 280 <10 Length of railway (km): 140 0 Agricultural land (ha): 130,500 1,100

Risk to the natural and historic environment: Number of EU designated bathing waters within 50m: 0 2 Number of EPR installations within 50m: 12 0 Area of SAC within area (ha): 4,200 <50 Area of SPA within area (ha): 750 <50 Area of RAMSAR site within area (ha): 750 <50 Area of World Heritage Site within area (ha): 23000 0 Area of SSSI within area (ha): 9,650 50 Area of Parks and Gardens within area (ha): 3,050 100 Area of Scheduled Ancient Monument within area (ha): 800 <50 Number of Listed Buildings within area: 2,940 80 Number of Licensed water abstractions within the area: 80 <10

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Figure 13 Reservoir flooding in the Northumberland catchment.

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Other Sources of Flooding Surface water and sewer flooding can affect the catchment. Throughout 2012 most urban centres experienced surface water flooding as did many more rural settlements. Our Flood Maps for Surface Water Flooding show many areas at risk across the catchment. Flooding from ordinary watercourses and surface water is to be covered by the local flood risk management strategy being prepared by the local authorities Groundwater flooding. There has been no widespread groundwater flooding issues in the region recently.

Wider catchment Issues with an impact on Flood Risk Management Siltation and excessive nutrients, within watercourses, from agriculture are exacerbated by inputs from sewage treatment works and private sewerage systems. Siltation within the highly modified lowland water courses can cause a particular problem for effective flood risk management. Sometimes requiring costly and environmentally damaging silt removal. Low flows and high summer temperatures make the pollution problems worse. Nutrients can disturb the natural balance of a watercourse and cause excessive growth of vegetation and algae. Again this reduces the ability of the lowland water courses to efficiently pass flood flows, and requires expensive vegetation management. The legacy of drainage works on large stretches of rivers has created a poor habitat in some areas. Obstructions from weirs and flood defence works prevent some species of fish and eels from spawning and migrating. Maintaining this historic drainage/flood risk management system is costly and ultimately unsustainable. While the impacts are not yet widespread, invasive non-native species do pose a significant future threat in the catchments.

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Conclusions and objectives for the Northumberland rivers catchment

We have set out the following for this catchment:

Conclusions: The population is small for the land area covered by the large Northumbrian catchment however the proportion of people at high risk of flooding is very small. The rural nature of the catchment means that properties are often isolated and away from urban centres. This makes it a challenge to provide protection to all properties at risk in terms of solutions and cost beneficial analyses. Other sources of flooding from reservoirs, surface water, ordinary water courses, ground water and sewers are also significant in this catchment. There have been many reported incidents in recent years of flooding from surface water and ordinary watercourses affecting householders and businesses. The updated surface water flood maps (December 2013) show a widespread problem. Whilst the area has some challenging flooding problems to address, the amount of undeveloped land available in the catchment means that there is the space to adopt new techniques and practices to alleviate these problems. Natural Flood Management (NFM) techniques are being investigated wherever possible to determine how effective they can be and to maximise the benefits they offer. In developing schemes to reduce flood risk, we intend to work in partnership at every available opportunity. This would include working together with all relevant stakeholders including landowners, private businesses, environmental organisations, charities, and of course other risk management authorities to provide benefits to all involved where possible.

Objectives: Our objectives when preparing this flood risk management plan have been as follows:

Social  Reduce the number of people exposed to each category of flood hazard, particularly high and extreme hazard;  Ensure that critical infrastructure remains operational during flood events;  Reduce the social impact of flooding on communities at risk, especially in areas where there is a high proportion of properties and social assets at risk. Economic  Reduce the direct economic damages to property and agriculture from flooding;  Ensure that FRM expenditure follows the level of flood risk in the catchment.

Environmental  Protect heritage sites from the effects of flooding and where possible use FRM activities to enhance the landscape; 48 of 51

 Maintain and where possible improve the ecological function designated sites through FRM activities;  Allow river channel processes to operate naturally within the catchment;

 No adverse impact on water quality as a result of flooding.  Protect and improve landscape character in accordance with AONB objectives of creating natural rivers, some managed realignment, and creating and improving the condition of woodland;  Protect all environmental designations within the area from any detrimental effects of flooding;  To maintain the current watercourse and coastal water quality within the area.

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Measures to across the Northumbrian rivers catchment

Across the Northumberland rivers catchment there are 24 measures to manage flood risk. The measures are described more fully in the appendices but are summarised below: include:

Preventing risk: 3 Measures  including the establishment of asset registers  promotion of floodplain woodland in the RBD.

Preparing for risk: 4 measures  which consider the vulnerability of key infrastructure such as roads, schools, community buildings and prepare suitable measures to ensure the assets are resilient and are able to remain open or be open rapidly during and after flood events.

Protecting from risk: 17 measures.  restoration and improved usage of upstream natural floodplain, floodplain restoration and connectivity, channel restoration to reduce catchment runoff and improved habitat creation and adapting and considering the impacts of climate change

Recovery and review of risk: there are no measures in this category.

The measures above are described in more detail in the appendices

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LIT 10202

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