PR259

For Immediate Release

26 September 2006

The day after the torrential flooding of Monday (25) Great Borough Council is helping people to clear up, and seeking assurance from Anglian Water that improvements will be made.

GYB Services, which works in partnership with the Council, is hard at work cleaning the streets. At 6am Street Scene Inspector Terry Bensley was assessing the state of the streets.

He decided to concentrate his cleansing teams on the Northgate area, then they worked through the town and Gorleston. The six cleaning teams have mechanically swept pathways and gutters, and cleared the passage ways.

“We also needed to go to the South of the town as these areas still have their waste collected in black bin bags which were floating and splitting, so they had to be cleared before they became an even bigger nuisance,” said Terry.

Elsewhere the Environmental Health team visited businesses to advise on aspects such as how the Council can help them dispose of contaminated food, and called at schools like Great Yarmouth High School as they have had problems with areas including kitchens.

Environmental Health was also involved in the emergency planning team on Monday working with the Police and Fire brigade. The Environmental Rangers played an important role providing constant updates on areas where assistance was most needed.

On Monday the Housing Department was asked to provide alternative accommodation for seven families who were given temporary shelter in B&B.

Two other householders were also offered help but decided to stay in their own homes. First thing Tuesday morning the department contacted these two people to see if they wanted to move out, but again they confirmed that they wanted to stay.

“We were told that there was another downpour forecasts for about teatime on Monday,” said Head of Housing Needs and Welfare Mark Burns. “This could have meant providing accommodation for up to 150 people.

“To ensure that we could accommodate them we got the Marina Centre ready. The Piazza was set up as a temporary rest centre, and extra food was brought in. Thankfully as the downpour didn’t occur the facility wasn’t required.”

Sandbags were delivered on Monday to people who had ordered them. Like other road-users GYB Services had problems getting to areas where flooding was worst. GYB Services was also not helped by the fact that its yard was underwater all morning - as its depot is in the Northgate area.

Anyone who ordered sandbags has been contacted and they have been delivered where still required.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council provides sandbags free in times of major flooding by river or sea. A decision was made in August that as residents were asking where to obtain sandbags that GYB Services would sell them.

Given the problems experienced by people living in the Northgate Street area, some having been flooded three times, the Council decided this morning that free sandbags would be provided to homes in that area.

From Wednesday they will be delivered to individual premises.

“We are estimating five bags per door,” said GYB Services Director Graham Jermyn. “As there are approximately 300 properties, and some have more than one door it is quite an undertaking.

“Sandbags are a first line of defence but for households in areas such as Northgate it would be advisable if they looked to alternatives such as floodboards. This is a board which is made to fit in the doorway it gives much better protection against the problem that many homes faced yesterday of cars creating waves as they drove past.

“I hope that residents will understand that as we need as many personnel as possible filling and distributing sandbags, we are having to suspend grounds maintenance services for the moment.”

The Leader Barry Coleman has spoken with Peter Simpson chief operating officer of Anglian Water.

One of the most positive aspects of their conversation this afternoon has been an undertaking by Anglian Water to do its best to bring forward a £1 million investment to be made in the Northgate area which was scheduled for March 2008.

“The scheme is to provide more storage tanks, upgrade the sewers and increase capacity,” explained Councillor Coleman. “Anglian Water will undertake the project as soon as it can.

“The company is also happy to work with the Council and other agencies on a joint operation to learn from what happened on Monday. We want to ensure that if the public ring any of the organisations dealing with any future incidents we all give the same information.

“That will include engineering problems and at a communication level – that will be put into practice in a matter of days rather than weeks.

“I asked about pumping stations and was told that all were working at full capacity throughout the emergency, except one that had to be taken out of commission for two hours to be cleaned.

“I also asked if reports that the system couldn’t cope because all sewage and waste water had to go into the same system which is pumped to Caister, rather than being pumped into the river were correct.

“I was assured that in an emergency like yesterday’s water is pumped into the river – and that is exactly what happened.

“I would like to reassure residents throughout the Borough that the Council is working hard on their behalf to ensure that if there is flooding in the future, through this kind of downpour, that we will be able to offer assistance, and that we will keep in communication with Anglian Water to see that it delivers the things we have agreed.”

For further information contact:

Councillor Barry Coleman
Tel: 01493 740782

Head of Environment and Health
John Hemsworth
Tel: 01493 846458

Director of GYB Services
Graham Jermyn
Tel: 01493 846465

Head of Housing Needs and Welfare Services
Mark Burns
Tel: 014943 846450.

Agencies to contact in a flooding emergency.
Flooding FAQs
Sand stores in the Borough

Issued by:
Liz Dann
Press Officer
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
01493 846513