Flooding is becoming a more common occurrence in our communities, and households should be prepared so that they can protect themselves in the event of a flooding emergency.

West Northamptonshire Council have a wealth of information available to householders in their Flood Toolkit and through the RAIN project will actively engage with residents at risk to help them prepare and protect themselves and their property.

In partnership with RAIN and LENS, the parish council prepared a planning application for flood mitigation works in Penvale Park. The planning application is the result of work undertaken with a civil engineer, a tree consultant, and a planning consultant to develop a natural flood mitigation plan to reduce the risk of flooding to properties around the park.

The planning application can be viewed on the West Northamptonshire Planning Portal - search for application number WNN/2023/0510.

The planning application was approved and work began on the flood mitigation measures in early 2024.

Further works are planned to enhance the area at risk of flooding with tree planting, butterfly bund seeding and naturalised bulb planting.

What more can I do to protect my property?

You can find out how to put together Flood Plans for your home, business or community here www.gov.uk/prepare-for-flooding

If you think you are about to be flooded (i.e. flood warning or severe flood warning issued) then please:

• Turn off your gas, electricity and water supplies, if it is safe to do so – do not touch an electrical switch if you're standing in water
• Move your family, vehicles, pets and important items to safety e.g. upstairs or higher ground
• Use flood products if you have them e.g. flood barriers or air brick covers
• Follow advice from the emergency services or local council – you may be asked to evacuate

For information on Flood Products to help reduce the impact of flooding on your home e.g. flood doors, airbrick covers, visit  bluepages.org.uk Alternatives include putting soil in bags to go across doorways, and down the toilet/sink.

You could prepare an Emergency Bag of essential items. This might include spare glasses, waterproof coat, medication and a copy of any recent prescription, water, food, insurance documents and pet food. You could consider hand sanitiser and a face covering too.

Do shop around to find the right insurance policy for you. Why not see if Flood Re can help – www.floodre.co.uk - a joint initiative between Government and insurers aiming to make the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable. For advice about insurance look online here: www.gov.uk/prepare-for-flooding/get-insurance.

Parts of East Hunsbury are affected by the flood warning area in place for Wootton Brook.

East Hunsbury Parish Council took part in the Pathfinder III project, which aims to facilitate community-led improvements in resilience and preparedness amongst communities at risk of surface water flooding in Northamptonshire, complementing other flood risk management activities. This was a two year project (2019 – 2021) for 30 communities funded by the Anglian Northern Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, focussing on urban settlements, as well as business town centres.

The final report from the Pathfinder III project was released in April 2023. This document will be useful for households to formulate their own flood response measures, and for the parish council to agree flood mitigation responses and applying for funding. The recommendations of the document will be incorporated into the parks management plans where appropriate.

When incidents of flooding occur, Northamptonshire County Council are required to commission a report to identify the contributing factors to the incident, and any mitigation measures that can be made.

Is my area at risk of flooding?

Find out if your area is at risk of flooding, the current alerts and warnings that have been issued, and to sign up for free flood warnings here www.gov.uk/check-flooding or call the Floodline service on 0345 988 1188. Sign up for flood warnings here: www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings

An explanation about what flood warnings are and what to do is available here www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-alerts-and-warnings-what-they-are-and-what-to-do

You may find this document helpful on surface water flooding www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-risk-maps-for-surface-water-how-to-use-the-map but if you do have concerns regarding surface water flooding, this will be addressed by your local authority (West Northamptonshire Council).