greater manchester flooding: the social housing perspective
TRANSCRIPT
Greater Manchester Flooding: The Social Housing
Perspective Monday 29th February 2016
Professor Philip Brown
Making Research Count at The University of Salford
• National initiative across ten universities in England
• A knowledge broker
• Bringing together academics, practitioners, carers and users to facilitate the dissemination of social care research and theory
• The University of Salford is the regional hub for MRC in Greater Manchester
• Support the learning needs of a range of organisations in the sub-region
Making Research Count (MRC)
Dr Neil Entwistle, University of Salford
Rivers and floodplains: a drone’s eye view
Neil Entwistle
Greater Manchester
Flooding
MediaCityUK
Cause?
• River Croal, • Bolton
Cause: Natural Processes?
Extreme weather?
El Niño
Flood in Salford, 1946
Flood in Salford, 1946
Named storms of winter 2015/16Name Date named Date of impact on UK and/or Ireland
Abigail 10 November 2015 12 - 13 November 2015
Barney 16 November 2015 17 - 18 November 2015
Clodagh (Clo-da) 28 November 2015 29 November 2015
Desmond 4 December 2015 5 - 6 December 2015
Eva 22 December 2015 24 December 2015
Storm Frank 28 December 2015 29 - 30 December 2015
Gertrude 28 January 2016 29 January 2016
Henry 30 January 2016 1 - 2 February 2016
Imogen 7 February 2016 8 February 2016
Named storms of winter 2015/16Name Date named Date of impact on UK and/or Ireland
Abigail 10 November 2015 12 - 13 November 2015
Barney 16 November 2015 17 - 18 November 2015
Clodagh (Clo-da) 28 November 2015 29 November 2015
Desmond 4 December 2015 5 - 6 December 2015
Eva 22 December 2015 24 December 2015
Storm Frank 28 December 2015 29 - 30 December 2015
Gertrude 28 January 2016 29 January 2016
Henry 30 January 2016 1 - 2 February 2016
Imogen 7 February 2016 8 February 2016
“What we are experiencing is typical of an early winter El Niño effect,” head of Met Office long-range forecasting.
Christmas/Boxing Day 2015Hourly rainfall
Prestolee (Bolton)
Prestolee (Bolton)
Prestolee (Bolton)
Prestolee
Irwell Flood
Flood risk
Environment AgencyFlood Alerts
Flood risk
Flood Alerts
Adequate warnings? Littleborough, Greater Manchester.
Could it have been worse?Summerseat, River Irwell
Could it have been worse?Radcliffe, River Irwell
Could it have been worse?Manchester, River Irwell
Aftermath
Research: Peel Park, Salford
LeveeFlood level
1866
1870
Historic Irwell River FloodsDate m3s-1 21-09-6819523-09-6826901-10-6821427-10-8034221-03-8119009-12-8317330-12-8618121-12-9126305-01-9217101-12-9218831-01-9525730-10-0020004-02-0418821-01-0823622-06-1227425-09-12194
“Very responsive regime. Many abstractions and storage reservoirs”.
Drinking Water Lakes
Planning
Whalley, River Calder
Mitigation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35353869
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35353869
Dr Graeme Sherriff, University of Salford
Climate adaptability
Climate Change AdaptationGraeme SherriffSustainable Housing and Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU)
What is climate change?
What does it mean for the UK?
• Increases in frequency of flooding, including threats to home and critical infrastructure
• Summer overheating and heat related deaths
• Reductions in water availability in the summer
Flooding as a socio-spatial vulnerability issue
Sensitivity Enhanced Exposure:- (in)ability to prepare- (in)ability to respond- (in)ability to recover
- www.climatejust.org.uk/map
How can we respond to climate change?
What is the policy in Greater Manchester?
GM strategic goals on climate change
• We will make a rapid transition to a low carbon economy. • Our collective carbon emissions will have been reduced by 30%
to 50%. • We will be prepared for and actively adapting to a rapidly
changing climate. • ‘Carbon literacy’ will have become embedded into the culture of
our organisations, lifestyles and behaviours.
The Greater Manchester Climate Strategy – 2011-2020
GM strategic goals on climate change
• We will make a rapid transition to a low carbon economy. • Our collective carbon emissions will have been reduced by 30%
to 50%. • We will be prepared for and actively adapting to a rapidly
changing climate. • ‘Carbon literacy’ will have become embedded into the culture of
our organisations, lifestyles and behaviours.
The Greater Manchester Climate Strategy – 2011-2020
We will be prepared for and actively adapting to a rapidly changing climate
• the extent, quality and productivity of green spaces and tree cover• the number and quality of resilience plans and adaptation strategies
The Greater Manchester Climate Strategy – 2011-2020
By Sector
• Buildings: embedded in all retrofit and regeneration• Transport: transport infrastructure develops resilience to
prepare for an increase in extreme weather events. • Green and blue spaces: well co-ordinated green and blue
infrastructure network that delivers cooling, shelter, resilience and flood management, increasing urban tree cover
• Integration of green infrastructure into the strategies and work programmes of all organisations working in the growth, sustainability and wellbeing sectors including dissemination of research into costs, levies, standards and benefits.
• Cultural value attached to our green and blue infrastructure
Is social housing prepared?
Climate preparedness in social housing
• Despite excellent climate awareness, the approach of housing associations remains a “wait and see” tactic.
• Alleviating fuel poverty and reducing winter fuel bills remains a greater priority.
• Climate related events not considered frequent or severe enough, and lack of confidence in ability of scientific community to predict extreme events.
• Overcoming the barrier between strategic climate adaptation objectives is challenging.
(Masters research University of Leeds – Lucy Davidson, July 2015)
Dr Luke Blazejewski, Film maker
The Hundred Year Flood: A Short Film
Lee Sugden, Salix Homes
Experience of Social Housing sector during recent floods
Refreshments and Networking
Break
• Reflecting on experience of supporting communities during flooding.
• What steps could be put in place to reduce the risk of future events?
• What support do housing organisations need in the future?
• What are the key messages for those involved in policy formulation?
World Café discussion
Thoughts and reflections from groups and closing remarks