Clerk to the Council
J C Shaw Esq
4 Corkickle
Whitehaven
CA28 8AA
Tel. No 01946 695701 email jcshaw@talk21.com
st
Parton Parish Council
Copeland Constituency
Copeland Borough Council
Cumbria County Council
United Utilities
K Young (Chairman)
B Quayle
Mrs. L Bestford
Mrs. M Ryden
Mrs. S Rogan
J C Shaw (Clerk)
Jamie Reed M P
Mrs. G Everett
Cllr. J Bowman
Cllr J W Bowman
Cllr Dixon
Cllr S Hayman
D Coyle
A Harrison
N Walls
Network Rail
M McCabe
C Littler
I Crouch
Also present were a number of members of the public
The chairman of the parish council welcomed those attending and said he would ask the
Member of Parliament to chair the meeting. The clerk said there was an apology from Rachel
Gerrard from the Environment Agency and David Bechelli at Copeland Borough Council He said that Keith Parker who had planned to attend from the borough council had contacted him to say’ by now you will be aware we are heading into another bout of severe weather and storm surges. As such I may not be able to attend this evening as we are already light on people and planning and preparation for the weekend’s events must take precedence .’

The chairman introduced Doug Coyle the H and T Resilience Manager and Andrew Harrison the Drainage and Surface Water Officer. Doug said that Cumbria county council were the lead authority for flood investigation and worked with a group which included the
Environment Agency, the borough council and United Utilities called Making Space for
Water. He said the Copeland group met quarterly. He said that work had commenced on a report which ought to be available for consultation with the public in April/May 2014. He said that Parton because of the location and having a history of flooding was classified as a
“Wet” area. He said that if the report proposed substantial work then a bid for funding would be made to central government. He said that during the present spell the highways division would assist wherever possible and in response to a question about flooding in the school said he would contact the property division to advise them of work that could be done to divert a culvert. Cllr Hayman said she would also take up this issue. Doug said in the long term the
Shoreline Management Plan where this area of coast was designated “Hold the Line” would detail what work was necessary but here the timescale was up to four years and he understood that much more concern was with the here and now. Andrew said he had been in the village and spoken to members of the public and looked at the problem areas. He said the more information that was passed to him the more detailed would be his report. It was agreed that papers from the Parton Flood Group which was formed after the 2005 and 2006 flooding would be sought.
The Chairman introduced Nick Walls and Mark McCabe. Nick apologised for the absence of
Stephen Huddart
He said UU operate and maintain the public sewerage system in the village. The south end of the village at Bank Yard drains to Parton South Pumping Station which pumps flows into the gravity sewers that serve the rest of the village at the bottom of Parton Brow. The rest of the village all drain by gravity sewers into Parton Beach Pumping Station located under the arch on the sea-ward side of the war memorial. The flows from this pumping station are then pumped on to Parton WWTW (also known as Whitehaven WWTW) which is at the north end of the village.
Parton Beach Pumping Station passes forward approximately 22l/sec .for treatment and then storm flows spill into a tidal pumping station that pumps flows against high tide situations. In circumstances when this system is overwhelmed the have known areas on the network that can flood.
The lowest points on the network where the flooding can occur are:-
1 At the rear and side of No 30 Foundry Road
2 From the gullies at the rear of Number 24 Foundry Road
3 From the gully at the side of number 22 Foundry Road.
Several other properties have NRV’s (None Return Valves) installed to protect against flooding from the sewers. These are at 16, 18 and 20 Foundry Road and the Station Hotel and numbers 11, 13 and 15 The Square.
The flooding mechanism at the above locations is due to sewerage coming back up the drains and is nothing to do with the overland flooding from watercourses and highway systems that connect to the culverts. The highways in the village do not drain to the public sewers.
UU’s sewers can become overwhelmed when surface water from overland flooding enters the back inlet gullies of some properties as it cannot escape through its normal route due to

hydraulic restrictions within the culverts.
There was surcharge and flooding out of a manhole on the public sewer outside the Lowther
Arms on the 21 st and 30 th December. The main sewer downstream of the flooded manhole has since been jetted to ensure no hydraulic restrictions are present.
Nick said that the following actions were taken during the recent spell of bad weather
21.12.13. Flooding at Lowther Arms. Craig Earl attended.
21/23.12.13. Flooding opposite 103 Foundry Rd. near 22. Highway flooding most likely due to restrictions in culverts. Attended by S Rankin.
30.12.13. Flooding on road and at Lowther Arms Terry Keenan attended. Follow up visit to meet customer on 31.12.13 by DE and NPT. Further work raised to provide mitigation work outside Lowther Arms (Completed on 07.01.14) and job raised for desilt and
CCTV of sewer in road outside (Completed on 19.01.14 between manholes 8402 and 9401).
03.01.1 22 Foundry Road. Attended by Steve Rankin. Re flooding from culverts and highway drains at side and rear of 22 Foundry Road. Very high tides at 3.00 pm on third day but there was no significant rainfall on catchment. In answer to a question about flooding in the school he said that this was a land drainage issue rather than sewage drains.
He said that overland culverts were overwhelming the drainage system and a through clean of the culverts was necessary. Nick said that he would discuss with colleagues the question of screens at the pumping station. He said that the Parton area is included in the Companies
Sewer Management Plan under the AMP6 submission for the Whitehaven catchment which will look at flooding of properties due to hydraulic inadequacy on the network.
The chairman introduced Chris Littler and Ian Croucher the Infrastructure Maintenance
Protection Coordinator.Ian said he worked out of Carlisle and was the local contact point. He said that Network Rail was responsible for keeping the arches clear and he had issued an order to the contractor to clear the five arches in the Parton area. He said that at present their main task was at Flimby where the line had been severely damaged and had undertaken work at Lowca point north of the village. Chris produced a map showing Network Rail land and said he would provide an electronic copy which could be enlarged. Ian agreed that he should visit the village in daylight and examine the sea defence with a view to determining whether
Network Rail land had now been encroached. In answer to a question about flood gates at the end of the arches Chris said that the Environment Agency would be responsible for funding any such gates but that Network Rail would not object as they did not object at present to the sand bags that were in place.
The clerk said he had received a note from the borough council about sand bags as follows:
Local Authorities are not required to provide materials for flood protection, but as a caring authority Copeland will supply sandbags as an emergency or preventative measure in accordance with our Sandbag Policy .
However it should be noted that sandbags are of limited use. In the short term they are adequate for deflecting running water or deflecting the effects of waves produced by passing vehicles and in filtering any contaminants in the water. Where there is standing water and the water level is higher than doors or airbricks, sandbags will be of no use. Sandbags will be of no help if your property is already flooded and Copeland will discourage their use in these circumstances unless there is a risk from sewage contamination.
A sandbag barrier can be made more effective by draping a plastic sheet over the top of the bags and then weighing this down with further sandbags to make a seal. Copeland do not provide plastic sheets or plastic bags.
Once sandbags have been delivered they become the property owners responsibility and this includes the responsibility for their deployment, appropriate maintenance and subsequent legal disposal.

The parish clerk said he would enquire at the borough council about the Rock Armour. He would ask whether a quarterly inspection was carried out and whether the borough council had plans to make safe the damaged baskets. Jamie said that he had seen the damage and was clear that one stretch was in a dangerous state.
The clerk said that he had received the following note:
The Environment Agency issued a tidal flood alert for the coast at Parton for the tide on the 3 rd
January that residents can sign up for.
Parton flooding was discussed at the post Christmas Making Space for Water meeting (where the professional partners involved in flooding meet to discuss and sort out flooding issues - Copeland BC,
United Utilities, Lead Local Flood Authority and Environment Agency)
At the meeting it was decided that Andrew Harrison from the Lead Local Flood Authority (Cumbria
County Council) would take the lead on flooding issues in Parton as the watercourses are all nonmain river.
We the Environment Agency are looking into the tidal element of the flooding though the underpass and Andrew will be able to update you with our progress at your meeting on Friday. If there are any actions for the Environment Agency following your meeting Andrew will pass them on to me.
Jamie Reed thanked the organisations for attending the meeting and asked that the clerk produce a note to be circulated with a list of actions. He said he was aware that there was another very high tide and possible storm surge due at lunchtime on the 1 st
February 2014 and asked that everyone be prepared.
Actions and Contacts a) Andrew Harrison (CCC) to continue to collect information required to produce a flood report. Residents to assist with information to be sent to him, including any relevant papers from the 2005 Parton Flood Group. b) Doug Coyle (CCC) and Cllr S Hayman to ensure that the property division of the county council were made aware of the flooding problems at the LEA school in the village. c) Nick Walls (UU) to discuss with colleagues the question of screens at the pumping station. d) Nick Walls (UU) to consider whether any other property require None Return Valves. e) Chris Littler (Network Rail) to provide an electronic map(s) of their land ownership f) Ian Croucher (Network Rail) to arrange to meet the clerk on site to look at Network Rail land and report. g) The clerk to contact the borough council about the Rock Armour. h) All contact details to be made available on the parish council website
( www.partonpc.co.uk
)
Contacts
Andrew Harrison (CCC)
Tel: 01228 221331 Email : lfrm@cumbria.gov.uk
Stephen Huddart (U U) 0845 7462200 steven.huddart@uuplc.co.uk
Ian Croucher (Network Rail) 07515 627 015 ian.croucher1@networkrail.co.uk
David Bechelli (Copeland B C) Tel: 01946 593048 E-mail: David.Bechelli@copeland.gov.uk