More info on BGN

WHAT?

Blue Green Newcastle (BGN) aims to better protect the whole city centre from multiple sources of flood risk.

The city is important to everyone who uses it, so the sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) solutions we hope to use will not only better protect the city from flooding but enhance placemaking in the local area too, by improving biodiversity, ecology and amenity. By using innovative sustainable drainage techniques, the project will help deliver the Council’s wider visions on climate change, carbon reduction and making the city a more accessible and greener place to live, work and visit.

While there can be multiple solutions to reduce the risk of flooding, their success is dependent on where they are located and how they are maintained.

The BGN approach will be to incorporate blue green infrastructure (BGI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) throughout the city from the high points at the Town Moor to the River Tyne. Most features will be delivered in public spaces and the highway, areas with many user groups and a high value to society. There needs to be a broad consideration of the environment and social value across the project to ensure this infrastructure can deliver as much value as possible to the city and those who live, work or visit.

BGN should be seen as a placemaking project, as potential benefits are far wider than just reducing flood risk and creating a climate-resilient city.

WHO?

Such features, when designed correctly can integrate social spaces, give carbon benefit, be aligned with transport infrastructure and much more. We would like the project to involve a broad range of stakeholders in order that wider benefits can be shared by multiple organisations.

Our city is for everyone and the importance of every space must be valued. The project intends to create betterment across the city but ensure the solutions are interconnected and enhance the use of spaces. The success of the project starts with those who it impacts becoming part of the journey, people who use or visit the city for any purpose.

As risk management authorities with responsibility for flooding Newcastle City Council, Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water need to play a strategic role in delivering the projects. But the true success of the project needs landowners, businesses, public organisations, communities, local charities and the already established groups that represent them all to play their part.

Without understanding how spaces in the city are valued by each group a scheme that considers all cannot be delivered.

WHY?

In summer 2012 flooding events impacted the City in a way that has not been seen in our lifetime. The heavier rainfall we experienced is a direct result of climate change, and such events will get more frequent, likely to cause more disruption and damage in the future.

Urban area, like the city centre is more vulnerable to surface water, due to the amount hard standing area. The topography of the city increases the risk too. Several historical watercourses were covered over as the city grew and water is now managed though engineered highway drainage and sewer networks. These do not have capacity to cope with extreme rainfall events caused by climate change.

We will also consider the impact rising sea levels will have on the City, which affects the peak height of the tidal River Tyne. This will continue to impact historic buildings and infrastructure on The Quayside, as experienced in December 2013 and 2023.

Email BGN