EA forces Gateshead Council to curb lake flood risk

A lake is failing safety standards and requires improvements worth more than £1m to "reduce the risk of life" posed by a potential flood.

The Environment Agency (EA) has served an enforcement notice to Gateshead Council over the condition of the lake at Watergate Forest Park.

The notice means the authority must reduce the risk of the lake overflowing during extreme rain by February in order to avoid being taken to court.

The Reform-UK led authority said the works required would be carried out in the coming months.

The local authority's leader Nick Allan repeatedly branded the EA the "flat earth society" at a council meeting.

He said carrying out the works themselves would be "significantly more cost effective" than potentially facing penalties from the agency, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service .

But he questioned the fact that only contractors Esh had bid for the council scheme and the fact the costs of the repairs had jumped from an original £400,000 estimate to £1.2m.

Reform councillor Graham Keating said something was not "working properly" if only one company had come through the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) framework.

The authority's head Dale Owens said NEPO was "well proven" to offer savings to local councils and explained that the cost increase was due to various factors, including inflation.

Allan said he had tried to stop the contract being awarded to Esh but it had been too late.

He said he did not think the "financial interests of the council were being served by the current procurement process.

The works will include a reinforcement of the reservoir's existing spillway using asphalt and additional concrete protection measures designed to accommodate a one-in-10,000-year flood event.

The lake was designated as a reservoir in 2021.

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