Bromford community help design mural for new flood defence scheme
The community has been helping design a mural as part of a £30 million scheme being built by the Environment Agency to better protect homes and business from flooding.
Schoolchildren help with the design for the mural
Local artist Sajida Asif has been working with children from Tame Valley Academy as well as adult, youth and women’s groups in the community to produce the artwork which reflects the history of Bromford.
The mural will be used to decorate some of the new flood walls which are part of the Bromford flood risk management scheme. The scheme aims to reduce the risk of flooding from the River Tame to 1,589 residential properties and 42 non-residential properties in the area.
The scheme extends more than 4.5 kilometres from the River Rea, through Bromford and Castle Vale, and downstream to the M42 crossing at Water Orton.
Suzanne Ward, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency said:
We are close to completing the Bromford flood risk management scheme on the right bank of the river which will help to better protect homes and businesses from the devastation of flooding. We are delighted that this essential structure is being decorated with the colourful artwork of local children and community members.
Sajida Asid added:
It has been truly wonderful working with the Bromford community of all ages. They have given me such a warm welcome that I feel like I’ve known this community for a long time.
Through our friendly discussions they have shared many stories of Bromford and talked about the history of the area, each from a personal perspective. The collection of paintings will aim to welcome people to the community in the same way that I have been welcomed and be a walk through Bromford’s history to the present day.
The scheme will reduce the risk of river flooding to 1,589 residential properties with 893 homes protected on the right bank and 696 homes protected on the left bank in Bromford and Castle Vale. It will also reduce the risk of river flooding to 42 non-residential properties in Bromford and Castle Vale.
The works are predicted to help prevent £321 million of flood damages. It will also include environmental enhancements to the River Tame including extensive tree planting and wildflower meadows on the right bank.
Other benefits include unlocking housing regeneration potential by reduced flood risk and allowing over £40 million investment into new housing by Birmingham City Council in Bromford as well as improvements to the well-used Bromford Park, including a newly refurbished and improved playpark area delivered by Birmingham City Council with a £200,000 contribution from the Environment Agency.
Background
The Environment Agency is working in partnership with Birmingham City Council (BCC) and Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT) to deliver the scheme.
The scheme comprises of 3 main sections:
- A series of flood walls on the left bank
- A separate series of flood walls on the left bank
- A series of 5 flood walls and more than 2 kilometres of earth works (clay and soil) on the right bank known as Bromford Drive or ‘the embankment’. A new cycle track is finished on top of the earth works and will provide a new cycle route through Bromford Drive.