Residents fear their Cheshire streets could be left 'uninhabitable' in 30 years
02.07.2022 - 12:45
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Tens of thousands of properties in Cheshire are at risk of being rendered uninhabitable by flooding within 30 years a new report has found.
Streets across the country could be left unlivable due to rising sea levels by the year 2050, with areas of Halton and Warrington particularly vulnerable, according to the study, conducted by academics at the University of East Anglia.
Overall up to 11,000 homes in Cheshire are among 160,000 across England that the report published in the journal Oceans And Coastal Management says are at risk of being lost.
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The areas most at risk of flooding as communities with dispersed clusters of homes and buildings on a long flood plain, small quay and coastal harbour communities, and areas with a narrow space between the shoreline and rising ground, such as in Runcorn, reports Cheshire Live.
Kunal Gujar lives at the very end of Hean Castle Close in Runcorn, and from his kitchen he can see huge ocean-going ships pass metres away as they slink along the Manchester Ship Canal.
While its proximity to the water may be a plus at the moment, in the long term it could be a major problem those living in the area. He said he had decided to rent his property at the moment so that he could properly weigh up the flooding risk before buying.
“I was looking to buy a house nearby,” he said. “I looked at new builds in Warrington … Daresbury, but I was reading lots of things about it being on a floodplain.”
However he remains optimistic about the future of his coastal community: "We’ve seen huge tides this year, five storms, and still it was pretty good. There’s the canal so I should think we’ll be protected."
The report predicts that between 300 and 1000 homes in Halton, and between 5,000