The biggest flood protection investment in history has been welcomed by the MP of a flood-hit town – who wasted no time in pressing the case for local flood repairs!
Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins, who is also Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, has welcomed yesterday’s news, and raised in parliament today the case for further flood defences in Chesterfield.
Tens of thousands of homes and business will be better protected from flooding as the Labour Government today unveils a record package to build new flood defences and maintain and repair those already in place.
Toby said, “This announcement will see a record two-year investment of £2.65 billion and will better protect 52,000 properties across the country by March 2026. Whilst I of course welcome this massive investment in flood defences, I will be pressing the Government to ensure that Chesterfield is receiving its fair share. I have seen the appalling impact that flooding has on our communities since the floods in 2007 and I know that many people are living with the daily fear of floods. I also know that the sheer scale of the problems means there is no quick fix.
My initial priority is to secure funding for flood alleviation scheme to reduce the risk of flooding to properties on the River Hipper in Chesterfield, which is not protected by a substantial scheme like the Avenue Storage on the River Rother. I will also be highlighting the other smaller schemes and recommendations identified in the Section 19 flood report following the Storm Babet floods and trying to get funding for as many of these as possible.”
As the Environmental Audit Committee chair, I was delighted that our committee chose flood alleviation and adaptation as one of the first topics for discussion in this parliament. The evidence we have already heard shows that there are 6 million people in the UK at risk of flooding, and the state of our flood defence infrastructure is in a very poor state.
I recently visited a nature based flood adaptation programme in Hebden Bridge to see how their local community has helped slow the flow of water and protect their flood-hit town, so there needs to be a combination of natural and bricks and mortar solutions to this crisis and as I told the Minister, in parliament, this investment is just the first step up the mountain.
The additional funding will also have a focus towards maintenance, ensuring a further 14,500 properties have their expected level of protection maintained or restored, for a total of 66,500 properties benefiting from this funding across the UK. The Labour Government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as 14 years of damaging storms and underinvestment from the Conservatives left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.
Toby added, “Flood defences are going to be relied on more and more as the harsh realities of climate change continue to devastate communities hammered by flooding. I don’t pretend that we can ever be certain that any measures will provide complete protection from weather events like Storm Babet, but I can assure all my constituents that flood prevention is my number one priority, and that we have already delivered improvements as well as working to identify new ones – which this new funding will hopefully mean will be implemented.