Building flood resilience in Plymouth – Lipson Vale case study

Overview

An online presentation by Plymouth City Council on building flood resilience in communities, with a case study about the Trefusis Park Flood Relief Scheme in Lipson Vale, Plymouth.

Using the Trefusis Park Flood Relief Scheme in Lipson Vale as a case study, members of Plymouth City Council’s Engineering Design Team will provide information about existing flood risk in Plymouth, the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, the Integrated Urban Drainage Modelling (IUDM) partnership and the Building Resilience in Communities (BRIC) project, and how these initiatives have combined to reduce flood risk and build flood resilience in the community.

Background

There are areas within Plymouth that are at high risk of tidal, fluvial and surface water flooding.  The flooding that occurs is quite often a combination of all three of these flood risk sources, which also has a significant impact on the public sewerage system.

In 2010, the Flood and Water Management Act established Plymouth City Council as a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA).  The LLFA is managing flooding in Plymouth through the implementation of a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.  It is also engaging with other risk management authorities through the implementation of the IUDM partnership to assess and deliver a programme of flood risk management works that provide multiple risk management authority benefits.

Plymouth City Council, South West Water Services Limited and the Environment Agency have been, and continue to work together to investigate, model, design and deliver projects that provide direct flood risk and public sewerage benefits.

The Lipson Vale and Laira Avenue rapid response catchment in Plymouth has been identified as both high risk and a priority, due to its heavily urbanised nature, with steep-sided valleys that drain to a flat and low-lying area, where surface water frequently overwhelms the public and highway drainage systems. This flooding impacts the highway network and creates flood risks to houses, businesses and schools.