The government has announced plans to better protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses from flooding.
£2.65 billion will be invested over two years with 52,000 properties set to benefit from new defences by March 2026.
The government says that to shore up creaking defences, funding will be reprioritised for investment in much-needed maintenance, benefitting a further 14,500 properties. This means a total of 66,500 properties will benefit from this funding.
A government spokesperson said, “This government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as years of underinvestment and damaging storms left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition. With the frequency of extreme weather events only continuing to rise, leading to devastating impacts for people, homes, businesses and communities and costing the UK economy billions each year, decisive action to invest in adapting to climate change has never been more important.
“As well as protecting families from the devastation of flooding, the investment supports economic growth by protecting businesses, supporting jobs, and supporting a stable economy in the face of the increasing risk of flooding as a result of climate change. It will also protect farmland which has been badly hit by recent storms, in turn helping to safeguard farm businesses and farmers’ profits.”
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said, “The storms this winter have devastated lives and livelihoods. The role of any government is to protect its citizens. Under our Plan for Change, we are investing a record £2.65 billion to build and maintenance flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding.”
However, the government’s plans were not met with universal approval. Dr Jess Neumann, Associate Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, called for investment in nature-based solutions and community preparedness.
She said, “£2.65 billion to protect 66,000 properties is a small step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. 6.3 million properties are at risk of flooding in the UK. This investment addresses about 1 per cent of the problem.
“Investment is needed across the board – building and repairing hard-engineered defences is only one approach. We need more investment in nature-based solutions to support flood action and community preparedness and stricter controls on new developments.”
Environmental Audit Committee Chair, Toby Perkins MP, echoed Neumann’s call. He said, “Plastering over the cracks by making extensive use of flood defences is not a sustainable long term approach to increasing flood risk. It is becoming increasingly apparent that we need a far better grip on measures to mitigate this risk. In the [EAC’s] evidence session next week, we will consider measures on land use and planning which can increase a property’s resistance to flooding, as well as the role wetland creation and rewilding can play in creating natural flood barriers.”
Projects receiving funding include:
- Bridgwater Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset, which will receive £43 million.
- The Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme “Our City Our River”, which is set to receive £35 million.
- In the West Midlands, the Beales Corner project, which protects communities in Bewdley, will benefit from £2 million.
- An additional £3.5 million for the Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defences in Dorset
- Support for property flood resilience schemes across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, receiving £2.5 million.
Essential maintenance will be made to defences across the country including:
- Phase 3 of the Stallingborough Sea Defences along the Humber estuary, receiving over £7 million
- A further £3.8 million will be spent to improve protection in Pevensey Bay, as part of work to repair local sea defences.