Flood Resilience Grants Help Hundreds of Properties
Unprecedented rainfall across parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in November 2019 caused flooding to almost 800 properties in the area. The local council subsequently funded a scheme whereby affected homes and businesses were eligible for a £5000 grant to make their properties more resilient to future flooding events.
RAB were appointed by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to support the scheme and provide expert advice to affected businesses and residents. This involved a number of services including:
- Property Flood Resilience (PFR) surveys.
- Fully costed priority measures where there was a flood risk (with resident capability and budgets being identified as key considerations, and in compliance with CIRIA Code of Practice).
- Consultation with the installation contractors and residents to confirm the suitability of proposed measures based on cost, operation, and maintenance, and agreeing a final design and specification of PFR measures.
- Post installation audits to verify the measures were correctly installed, quantify the standard of resilience offered, and to ensure the residents demonstrated an understanding of PFR operation, maintenance, and storage.
We have now completed this work for the Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, and are proud to have supported hundreds of residents improve their resilience to future flooding events.
Our Project Manager, Andy McHugh, commented: “We are immensely proud to have supported some of the worst hit communities in the country. Our role has been extremely rewarding, having witnessed the devastation that flooding has to properties and people, and being able to support them and go the extra mile to ensure the implementation of PFR was as efficient and stress free as possible.
“Nothing prepares you for standing in a flooded property, seeing (and smelling) the damage caused and the impact it has had on people. There were many challenges for us including surveying during the COVID-19 lockdown and tier 3 restrictions. However we were able to react quickly to requests for surveys, consulting many installation contractors on the suitability of the proposed measures and advising on the highest standard of resilience given the grant budgets. I am so proud of the team achieving such positive feedback from residents in what must have been such a difficult time for them.”
RAB deliver a wide range of resilience and flood risk services for both public and private sector organisations. More information is available here on our website, or you can get in touch for an informal discussion on your specific project by email to enquiries@rabconsultants.co.uk or call our head office in Lichfield on 0330 223 6475.
