A NEW Northwich Emergency Flooding Plan (NEFN) has been agreed between Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) and three other risk management agencies.

According to the plan, CWAC, United Utilities and the Environment Agency will share responsibility for deploying portable emergency pumps to prevent a repeat of the floods of 2019 and 2021.

The pumps will take water from over-capacity drains and pump it directly into the River Weaver and River Dane.

The Environment Agency invested £5m in flood barriers in 2016, though the rivers came close to breaking their banks in 2021 when river levels could not be controlled at Northwich by the sluice gates and surface water drains were overwhelmed.

Northwich Guardian: Northwich town centre underwater (Newsquest)Northwich town centre underwater (Newsquest) (Image: Newsquest)The NEFP confirms that the fourth responsible agency, the Canal and River Trust, have now repaired the sluice gates. 

The total combined pumping capacity for the three agencies is 1300 litres per second, which exceeds the 1000 litres per second in place in 2021.  

Northwich town councillor Sam Naylor said: “I am satisfied that Northwich is as protected, if not more protected, than it was last year.

“We want to give confidence to businesses in the town, and to anyone who is thinking of coming with a business to Northwich.

“The fact that these pumps are portable will in theory bring more flexibility to the system, which is an added benefit.

“Particularly because of climate change, we never know what whether is going to be thrown at us nowadays.

“We can never say that these new measures can one-hundred percent prevent floods in Northwich, but we have done the best we can, taking into account the experience of 2019 and 21.”

Cllr Lee Siddall said: “Many questions still remain around the section 19 report, including whether the height of the flood barriers is still sufficient.

“I know work is still going on, and all councillors and officers on every level are committed to reducing the risk of flooding as much as practicably possible within Northwich.

“I look forward to learning more about the long-term future flood prevention strategy for our town.”