With £294m to be invested in flood risk management this year, 165,000 homes are now expected to be better protected by 2015, the government said.
Projects include an £80m coastal defence at Rossall in Lancashire, a £50.5m scheme in Leeds, a £28.4m sea defences scheme at Anchorsholme in Lancashire and a £9.7m project in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
The government said that it was on course to spend £2.3 billion to prevent flooding and coastal erosion over the four years to 2015. Of this £148m is coming from so-called partnership funding provided by local authorities and private businesses. In Leeds, £10m is being provided by the council and £5m by local businesses, for example, while Skipton businesses are stumping up £2m towards their scheme.
For the first time, the government has provided additional funding for projects that will unlock economic growth, protecting land that can now be developed. Schemes in Exeter and Ipswich, for example, will protect development land.
Environment secretary Owen Paterson said: “The 93 schemes given the green light today will bring huge relief to tens of thousands of homes and businesses that have lived with the fear of flood waters hitting their doors. They can get on with their daily lives and work knowing that there are well built defences.
“This is also a message to the business community. By building defences that will unlock the economic potential of once blighted land we are saying to them that it is safe to come and set up.”
Further examples of flood defences given the go ahead are:
- £14.5m flood defences at Grimsby Docks in Lincolnshire, to better protect 14,000 homes and businesses.
- A £10.8m scheme on the east bank of the River Arun at Littlehampton in West Sussex, protecting the town and 750 homes.
- A £28.6m sea defence to protect 2,000 homes in Great Yarmouth.
The Institution of Civil Engineers’ flood risk specialist David Balmforth said: “It is encouraging to see that the flood defence schemes to benefit from the additional funding allocated in the autumn have been defined. However, we are still concerned that this increase in funding does not return us to the levels of investment in place prior to the 2010 cuts. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of floods, more investment will be needed just to maintain current levels of protection.
“Many communities remain exposed to flood risk and support must be available to them to help them build resilience. This includes understanding which communities face a high risk of flooding and communicating this more effectively, building the physical resilience of communities by making property and infrastructure more resistant, and where new development is proposed for flood risk areas ensuring flood resilience is at the heart of the design – not an afterthought.”
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