Hartlepool public invited to opening of new £14.5m flood defence scheme

Work on a £14.5million flood scheme on the outskirts of Hartlepool is set to be completed in the coming weeks and bosses are inviting people to see the results.
Flood defences at Greatham South.Flood defences at Greatham South.
Flood defences at Greatham South.

The Port Clarence and Greatham South Flood Alleviation Scheme reduces the risk of flooding to 350 homes and 32 businesses in Port Clarence – which was devastated in a tidal event in December 2013.

Work is nearing completion on the £11million flood defence scheme at Greatham Creek, which started in summer 2017 and is Phase 2 of the multi-million project.

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It works alongside Phase 1, which saw £4.5million flood defences built on the River Tees at Port Clarence completed in December 2015.

The work at Greatham South has also included the creation of more than 30 hectares of vital habitat to support wildlife.

The official opening for the flood scheme takes place at 10.30am on November 8.

Residents are invited to join the Environment Agency and its partners between 10am and noon for a celebration event and to see the new defences.

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The event will take place at the new flood defence off the A178, north of the Seal Sands car park.

Phil Marshall, the Environment Agency’s senior advisor on the scheme, said: “There are so many interesting elements to this new flood defence scheme – both on the River Tees and along Greatham Creek – which work together to provide protection and peace of mind to the community.

“I’d encourage people to come along to this event so they can see for themselves the work that has been done to raise the flood defences at Greatham Creek and to create the new area of habitat in what is a vital conservation area.”

The Environment Agency has worked closely with local businesses SABIC UK, which has provided funding towards the scheme, and INOVYN ChlorVinyls, which provided some of their land to create the new habitat.

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It has also worked closely with RSPB and Natural England to design and build a scheme which maximises the benefits for wildlife.

For more information on the opening event contact Sarah Darling at the Environment Agency on [email protected]