Flood campaigners in Carlisle fear homes and businesses could end up underwater again this winter.

The Carlisle Flood Action Group claims officials are not acting quickly enough to protect the city from another flood.

But they stress they don’t just want bigger barriers, instead calling for a properly managed system which sees locals monitoring their own rivers.

Six months on from the disaster, the group has put forward a series of measures they believe could stop flooding – but say time is precious.

The group has enlisted the help of Alan Cook, a retired engineer who spent 20 years with North West Water.

He now lives in Bedfordshire but is involved with flood prevention groups across the UK, including Somerset, Calder Valley and Yorkshire.

Mr Cook said that he has been looking very closely at the waterways in Cumbria and Carlisle, and believes there are a variety of measures that would help to alleviate future floods.

They include relief channels to ease pressure on the main rivers, upstream water storage and steps to prevent the rivers backing up during a high tide in the Solway Firth. The group has also suggested a flood precept – a local tax – to cover the cost of protecting Carlisle long term.

Stephen Gibbs, chairman of the action group, accepts that a lot of this can’t happen overnight.

But he said there are things that can be done now to better protect the city before bad weather sets in this autumn and winter.

“The question is what about the short and medium term? Where are the immediate actions to reduce the risk of flooding this autumn? What the people of Carlisle want to see is a project plan, key dates of delivery, just like in big business,” he said.

Dr Gibbs cited blocked arches at Eden Bridge as an example of work that could be done now and have an immediate benefit.

“Their own report says bridges were a problem, What are they waiting for?,” he added.

Yet it is that report, published by Cumbria County Council with input from the Environment Agency (EA) and others, that the group has also publicly criticised.

The Section 19 documents set out what happened during the floods in each affected area. But Mr Gibbs say they lack detail residents and businesses want to see.

“It’s a factual report, not an investigation. They say it was unprecedented rainfall but there was far more to it than that.

“There’s nothing in there about what was happening upstream, how the rivers were managed... what about reservoir levels? Why were arches blocked? Has the river been re-profiled as a result of the floods? Have the rivers silted up?

“We know nothing about how the EA are maintaining these rivers,” he said.

Mr Cook believes lessons can be learned from Somerset Levels, which was hit by widespread flooding in 2014 and has since added a raft of new measures.

Having been closely involved in that project, he said there are a lot of similarities with Carlisle and Cumbria. And he believes that better managing the water, finding ways to release it downstream earlier when heavy rain is predicted, could be one solution.

“In some ways Carlisle is worse than Somerset. They have time to react. If they get a bad rainfall event they can dump some of the water.


Dr Stephen Gibbs “It’s only when the Levels get too widespread that it gets the villages. Carlisle doesn’t have that facility,” he said.

“When Appleby starts flooding you know it’s on its way. But Carlisle has nowhere to dump to so it happens at a faster rate.

“Somerset also has relief channels which pump to the sea. They’ve been improved. It’s very much a managed system.”

Having worked for the county’s former water board, Mr Cook also believes that Cumbria’s drainage and sewerage systems must be properly reviewed as he believes they are not working as they should be. And he is querying how often local rivers are dredged.

Another measure Somerset has taken is setting up its own river catchments authority to manage the water on a daily basis.

The Carlisle action group is pushing for a similar model to be introduced in Cumbria. It would move responsibility for rivers management away from solely lying with the EA, which it believes is overstretched, and form a joint officially-led body which also has input from local residents.

In terms of the cost, he suggests a flood precept similar to that imposed in Somerset. The tax, costing households about £15 a year, would help raise millions towards flood protection.

“The [EA] maintenance of rivers failed. There used to be people who would go and maintain them on a daily basis, empty silt traps. We believe a rivers catchment authority would manage the whole system. Join it all up,” said Dr Gibbs.

“The EA will want to build barriers. That’s a sign of failure. If you build a barrier you aren’t managing the problem further upstream.”

He is also calling for the ideas put forward by Mr Cook and others to be properly explored, but using expertise from a global company.

“We do not think the EA and Cumbria County Council can do it. They should put their hands up and be honest about it. We would like them to bring in a global firm that has experience. That do major flood alleviation projects around the world,” he said.

Dr Gibbs refers to a report by Government advisor Dieter Helm, which calls for a radical rethink of flood defences in the light of rising populations, major house building schemes and modern infrastructure.

In it he refers to the Cumbrian floods. He criticises the 1980s restructure that separated responsibilities, with the EA – a public body – taking on flood protection and major waterways while private water companies took over sewerage and drainage, for example, with costs covered on utility bills.

He now cites the river catchment model proposed by the Carlisle action group as the best way forward, alongside a flood levy.

Mr Helm’s report concludes: “The Government now has an opportunity and a choice. It can muddle on with the existing model and add some ‘sticking plasters’. It can increase the funding and try to improve the EA’s modelling and management. Or it can seize the opportunity to radically rethink and restructure flood defences in the UK.

“If it takes the former route, ministers will need to keep spare sets of Wellington boots at the ready for future flood emergencies and crises, and householders can expect more scenes like those in Somerset Levels, Cumbria, York and elsewhere to reoccur – again and again.

“If it takes the latter it can sort out flood defences for a generation. The latter is what the government should do – urgently.”