Cockermouth Floods 2009 Flashcards
Overview
Cockermouth is located on the natural floodplains of the Rivers
Derwent and Cocker in Cumbria. In November 2009
Cockermouth and its surrounding communities suffered extensive
flooding, with 31.4cm of rain falling in 24hours, the highest
recorded amount in the UK. This fell on already heavily saturated
ground and the rivers could not cope with the sheer volume of
water flowing into them. One person died and over 900 properties
were flooded.
The community got together to create a Flood Action Group and
they worked in partnership with flood risk management authorities
in the area such as the Environment Agency to aid the recovery
of the community and to look at ways of reducing flood risk to the
community in the future
Key objectives/ Outcomes
Successful partnership working was a key objective in reducing flood risk in Cockermouth. A scheme
was designed to protect 361 homes and 55 businesses against a flood that has a 1% chance of
occurring in any given year.
The scheme cost £4.45 million and it would not have been possible without contributions from other
sources and the community who needed to raise £2 million to successfully allow the project to go ahead.
The community through the flood action group, helped raise £215,000 towards the scheme. The scheme
consisted of building an innovative 1.65km flood defence consisting of embankm
Key stakeholders
The Flood Action Group, local council and the Environment
Agency worked together as the main project team to take
forward the scheme to build the new defences in Cockermouth
to reduce the flood risk in the area.
Challenges
Securing funding was challenging as the government
had recently changed the way it funds flood defence
schemes. External contributions needed to be
sourced to allow the scheme to go ahead which
required commitment and support form the local
community.
Another challenge was designing the flood barrier as
a key part of the historic identity of the market town is
the river views. Therefore glass panels were installed
to maintain these views.
Benefits
The Flood Action Group was at first seen as a pressure group but was soon recognised for the essential
role it could play as part of the project team. The group raised funds, supported and represented the
community and enabled a scheme to be completed in Cockermouth to reduce the flood risk in the
community in June 2013.
The chair of the Flood Action Group Sue Cashmore was awarded a British Empire Medal for hard work,
commitment and the instrumental role she played in getting the flood defences built in Cockermouth to
protect her community. Cockermouth has now re established itself as a vibrant, historic and independent
market town.
Lessons Learned
Working in partnership is key to gaining a positive outcome for the environment, social and economic
growth of the area. Without partnership funding contributions the scheme would not have been able to
progress. The Flood Action Group supported the Environment Agency in facilitating discussions and
helped gain community and business support for the scheme.
