Site 2: Southampton, Upper West Itchen

The CCATCH team have been working with the community on the west bank of the Itchen (between Horseshoe Bridge and Mansbridge) on issues and solutions to the threat of flooding. The main outputs from the project were:

Community Adaptation Plan and a Flood Risk Factguide.

The project's final newsletter summarises the work undertaken. The Belsize Flood Resilience Project will continue to work with communities at risk.

Issues to Address

North Solent Shoreline Management Plan, 2010 sets policy of ‘Hold the Line’ in Upper Itchen area.
Southampton City Council produced the Southampton Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management (CFERM) Strategy to set out future spend and policy for flood defence.
Upper Itchen (sub-unit 1 includes the upper west bank of the Itchen around Priory Road) comprises 271 properties in the 1:200 flood plain. This is the target area for the project.
The CFERM Strategy splits the flood cell into those with a 1 in 75 probability of flooding in any one year and those with a 1 in 200 probability of flooding.
For those 30 to 40 properties with the higher risk of flooding (1 in 75) it recommends adaptation in this location until 2060.
These owners may be eligible for a grant to make their properties resilient to flooding.
Those at a lower risk of flooding will be treated the same if their probability of flooding changes in the future as sea levels rise.

Community Liaison and Events

August 2012, a letter and leaflet was delivered to 271 properties in the 1:200 year flood event zone.
First public meeting held at the Riverside Club on Priory Avenue on 8th November 2012, attended by 29 people.
First Community Group Meeting held on 24th January 2013, attended by 15 people.
Task and finish groups were set-up to take forward the actions and were asked to progress them over the coming months and report progress at the next Community Group meeting.
Second Community Group on 23rd May 2013, attended by 16 people, to take forward actions and begin to think of long-term solutions.
The final Community Group was held on 4th December 2013, attended by 20 people to review what had been achieved in the project and develop the project Adaptation Plan. Baton was passed to the Belsize Flood Resilience Project, which will develop community adaptation over the coming years.

The Belsize Flood Resilience Project

Southampton City Council successfully bid for pathfinder project funding. The project focuses on reducing the risk of flooding through property level protection and preparedness of the community to respond to future flood events, in the 1:75 flood zone.

Property Level Protection

Two houses in Priory Road (Number 84 and 82) had Property Level Protection (PLP) installed.
Number 84 was used to demonstrate these resistance and resilience products at the Autumn 2013 Public Event. The National Flood Forum also attended the event to demonstrate PLP products.

Autumn Community Event – Celebrating Living by the Waterside

An event was held on Saturday 19th October 2013 at the Hard, Priory Road with between 60 and 80 people attending. It informed the wider community of St Deny’s of the work that the CCATCH project had been doing. The components of the event included:

National Flood Forum’s flood information trailer
A PLP demonstration house
A photographic exhibition
Children’s drawing area
Community website
Information on the new tide markers and information boards
Pop-up consultation stall

The report from the event is available to download - Living by the Waterside report.

Task and Finish Groups

The Website Group

To create a website, distinct from the CCATCH Project webpages - St Denys and West Itchen Tide News.

The Levels Group

To establish the height of land around the neighbourhood and people’s properties to allow comparison with the river water levels.

Flood Marker Group

This group have designed a flood interpretation board to put in three locations on the river, Woodmill, Cobden Bridge (Riverside Park) and the Hard at Priory Road. These will be accompanied by a flood marker. The design of the board can be downloaded, and they will be installed Summer 2014.

The Walls Group

A group of approximately 24 residents, in the upper end of Priory Road, formed to improve the walls running through the backs of their gardens.

What else has been going on?

Flood Risk Factguide published.
Southern Water - a visit to Southern Water Waste Treatment Plant took place in 2012. Southern Water attended a Community Meeting where the community raised concerns about problems with the sewer and wastewater systems and how they can be correctly reported to Southern Water.
A Community Flood Plan meeting was held in 2012 with a small group of residents to discuss how to produce a community flood plan. This will be taken forward by the Belsize Flood Resilience Project.
Local reports and photos were sent in by a number of residents and placed on the community website.

Key Lesson Learnt

The community required technical information in advance. This enables them to understand and have confidence in the project. Setting up Community Task and Finish groups is a good way of tapping into community spirit and empowering people to take actions forward. Demonstrating property level protection in a local house is a very effective way of showing how it works.

Taking the project forward

A community Adaptation Plan has been produced which includes a vision and proposed actions for the short to long term.
The Belsize Flood Resilience Project will take the project forward, and move to install property level protection to all houses in 1:75 flood plain.

Project Resources

Further Information

More information can be found on the community website, ‘Community Tide News: St Denys, West Itchen’.

Community Group Meetings Reports

The launch of the Southampton Itchen Community Group was held on 24th January 2012 (download meeting report). This followed a public meeting held on 8th November 2012. A newsletter was presented at the meeting which provides a good overview of the overall project.

A further Community Group meeting was held on 23rd May 2013 at the Riverside Social Club in Priory Road (download meeting report). At this meeting a number of presentations were given:

CCATCH Southampton Progress Report
Southern Water Presentation
Walls Group - Priory Road Flood Defence
Land Height Presentation and Levels (large file available on request)
Website Development Proposals (large file available on request)

The Solent Forum