Anti-flooding scheme in South Tyneside wins environment award

The £2.5m Monkton Flood Alleviation Scheme was put in place to tackle surface water flooding in the Hebburn are.

The project covers areas including Monkton Burn, Lukes Lane Estate and the Leam Lane area, Mill Lane, Lilac Walk, College Road, Campbell Park Road, Thirlmere Court and Mountbatten Avenue

The project was a partnership between South Tyneside Council, The Tyne Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency – which largely funded the scheme.

Completed in March, it has now picked up the award for Sustainability at the Flood and Coast Project Excellence Awards.

Part of the scheme involved opening up a section of the Bede Burn – which had previously flowed completely underground.

The project also involved local community groups and schoolchildren and has seen the site transformed into a new green space for the whole community and provided a new wildlife habitat.

Coun Joan Atkinson, lead member for area management and community safety, said: “I’m delighted the Monkton scheme has been given this award. The whole project is an excellent example of agencies coming together to provide a long term sustainable solution to the issue of surface water flooding. Well done to all those involved.”

Liz Walters, project manager with the Tyne Rivers Trust said: “The local community and school pupils did a fantastic job in helping us to plant up the area around the Bede Burn. This award reflects the important role that both groups played in creating, what has become, an attractive and wildlife-rich green space as well as functioning as a flood storage basin.”

The improvements help to control the flow of surface water, diverting it away from homes and businesses, which have been badly affected in the past.

The project provides an increased level of protection, greater peace of mind for local people and an improved local environment. The scheme took 12 months.