'Important' flood works worth £36,000 completed near Windermere

Forming part of Cumbria County Council’s programme of works to reduce flood risk in locations across the county, the scheme involved the diversion of a compromised and restricted watercourse, which was found to be a major factor in previous flooding events that affected the local community.

The works were carried out by local contractor Metcalfe Plant Hire Ltd, on behalf of CCC.

The area around Finsthwaite has a history of flooding events; the result of an undersized and deteriorated culverted watercourse system running directly under pastoral farmland, gardens and private properties.

In extreme rainfall events, the surrounding steeply sloped fields generate increased water run-off, which overwhelms the damaged culvert. The water then surcharges from the culvert mouth and flows over-ground towards local residential properties.

Cumbria County Council’s Lead Local Flood Authority project team successfully bid for funding from Defra and the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Grant in Aid fund to deliver the scheme

The completed works now mean that several residential properties in the Plum Green area of the village are now better protected from any future flooding events.

Cllr Keith Little, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “I am pleased that these important works have been completed in Finsthwaite, providing better protection to a number of properties that have previously suffered from flooding.

“The council’s investment into flood alleviation projects is essential to provide the best protection for our communities, and to avoid the devastation that flooding can bring to people’s lives, their homes and their families.

“I’d like to thank the local community for their patience whilst these works were programmed and completed, our contractors, and all involved in the various projects around Cumbria to ensure communities are confident in having the best protection against flood-risk possible.”