News

Flood Resilience Works Completed at Harpers Court

We’re delighted to confirm that a programme of Property Flood Resilience (PFR) works have been successfully completed at Harpers Court – an independent living residence in Brigstock, Northamptonshire.

Working in partnership with the housing provider Amplius, Harpers Court was successfully incorporated into the RAIN Project’s project scope. Home to a community of vulnerable residents, Harpers Court was identified early in the project as a priority site. Following several flood events occurring at the property, it became clear that practical support and flood resilience measures were needed.

Thanks to the professionalism of our delivery partners JBA Consulting and Watertight International, we’ve been able to act to make meaningful improvements at the property, which is located adjacent to Harpers Brook.

A Collaborative Approach

From the outset, our team involved the residents to keep them informed throughout. We’ve hosted various engagement sessions onsite to explain what PFR is, how it works, and what the planned improvements would mean for them.

One of the highlights was a visit from ‘Flood Mary’ – Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, who shared advice on how residents could create their own personal flood plans, tailored to their needs and individual circumstances.

Thanks to these efforts, residents not only understand what measures have been put in place, but have had the opportunity to see them demonstrated in action, including a live wet test to showcase the new flood door and window systems.

What’s Been Installed?

The works have included a range of measures including:

• Kitemarked flood windows to replace all downstairs units
• Self-closing airbricks
• Non-return valves and pumps to prevent internal water ingress, including in the room that stores residents’ mobility equipment, as well as the lift for upstairs
• Construction of a new wall and installation of a flood barrier, to retain step-free access at one end of the property.

These works will help not only boost flood resilience at Harpers Court, but will also mean the team and residents will feel better prepared on what to do should flood events reoccur.

Next step is to onboard those residents that have smartphones with the Resilico app with support from Watertight staff, so they can create and store their own personal flood preparedness plans, as well as receive flood risk warnings directly to their smartphones.

Our sincere thanks go to Amplius Housing for their close collaboration, to JBA for the comprehensive property-level flood survey, and to Watertight International for delivering the works to such a high standard.

We’d also like to thank the local community of Brigstock, who have always looked out for Harpers Court residents and offered support during past flooding incidents.

And most of all, thank you to the residents of Harpers Court for their patience, engagement and positivity throughout the process.

This project is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through partnership: putting people, preparedness and long-term resilience at the heart of what we do.

Photos from the post-installation wet test on the resilient windows. 

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The RAIN Project is funded by Defra as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes, which is managed by the Environment Agency. The programmes will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.

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