A FLOOD prevention group in Northwich has called for urgent action to mitigate against further "catastrophic" floods in the town.

The Northwich Flood Prevention Group (NFPG) say the town has suffered severe flooding every three years since the turn of the century, on average.

Just last week, it was confirmed temporary pumps installed last year had been removed from Barons Quay during the summer months due to their high cost.

NFPG was formed in February 2021 following the catastrophic floods the previous month, which was the seventh flood event since the year 2000.

William Briggs, spokesman for the group, has contacted every cabinet member on Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) calling on them to act now.

He said: “The timing of our correspondence may seem perverse when discussions about hosepipe bans are currently underway.

“But the potential danger of a future flood event in our town would be catastrophic to the residents and businesses of the second largest town in the unitary authority of CWAC.

“In late November 2021 CWAC announced that three temporary pumps had been installed with a further three to follow.

“With the installation of six pumps it appeared that some progress was being made in preparing Northwich for the highly likely event of a further flood.

“Unfortunately, since that point the position has significantly deteriorated.

“The temporary pumps have been removed for what we are advised may be cost reasons.

“To counter this a communication from the Lead Local Flood Authority dated April 2022 along with the Environment Agency and United Utilities indicates that contingency measures such as temporary pumps and dedicated high volume pump units could be deployed in the event of a flood emergency.

“Unfortunately, no evidence of the process for deployment or the availability of this equipment has been provided and river level monitoring remains ‘under consideration’, which does not instil confidence in residents and businesses located in the centre of Northwich.”

The group - which is completely non-partisan - consists of a number of residents and businesspeople including surveyors, insurance brokers, construction specialists, former Councillors and communications experts, all of whom have one thing in common – being passionate about protecting Northwich and its residents from further major flooding.

“Our town and its residents have been badly served by our council and the associated agencies and we are urgently and formally requesting any support which can be made available by central and local Government to ensure that a further flood event can be avoided,” he added.

“The 2019 Section 19 Report took 17 months to complete with the delay being blamed upon Covid-19 and the 2021 Report will be tabled 21 months after the event at the September 2022 Cheshire West and Chester Cabinet Meeting.

“It is apparent that the promise of urgency has not been reflected by the projected completion timing of the Section 19 Report.”

The groups also called on the council to urgently put in place an agreement to ensure downstream sluices are in good repair and working correctly and to regularly clean and amend the angle of the Whalley Road outlet valve so that it can work correctly.

In addition, they have also asked for confirmation of the ownership, location, size, outfalls and invert levels of all pipework servicing the town centre.

The report into the January 2021 floods will be tabled at the next cabinet meeting of CWAC in September.