£46 million to be spent on new flood defences in Northumbria
Homes in Northumbria will be better protected from floods thanks to an unprecedented six-year £2.3 billion flood defence programme.
Homes in Greatham South, Lustrum Beck and Monkton Village in South Tyneside will be better protected from floods thanks to an unprecedented six-year £2.3 billion flood defence programme, benefiting Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Country Durham and Teesside to the tune of £46 million, which was announced by the government today.
The new flood defence scheme in Greatham South and Port Clarence, just one of 116 schemes in the area getting the green light today, is worth over £8.1 million. A number of properties were flooded as a result of the tidal surge last December and this scheme, set to start construction in spring 2015, will help protect 351 homes and 32 commercial properties.
Some examples of the other schemes funded in the first two year ‘construction’ phase in the area include:
- Over 120 properties will be protected from non-tidal river flooding as a result of a new flood defence scheme at Lustrum Beck.
- £4 million is set to be invested in flood defence schemes that will protect 750 homes in Monkton Village in South Tyneside.
Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
Northumberland’s coastline has seen devastating flooding in the past, so I have earmarked £46 million of flood defence funding across the region to protect thousands of homes here.
Investing £2.3 billion to support 1,400 schemes across the country will protect 300,000 homes from the north-east to the south-west. As well as ensuring people’s safety and peace of mind it will also bring over £30 billion of economic benefit, making it great value for money as part of this government’s drive for a stronger economy and a fairer society.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:
Flood protection is vital and under our plans 116 projects across the region, including the new flood defence scheme in Greatham South and Port Clarence, will bring peace of mind to residents and businesses.
We are spending £3.2 billion in flood management and defences over the course of this parliament - half a billion pounds more than in the previous parliament. This, combined with the record level of investment in capital we have set out today, will improve protection to 465,000 homes and businesses by the end of the decade.
Environment Agency Chairman Sir Philip Dilley said:
Our priority is to do as much as we can with every pound of funding from government and local partners, we now expect to provide better flood protection to an additional 300,000 properties in England by the end of the decade. With one in six homes in England at risk of flooding, and recognising the risk of flooding can never be eliminated, we would also encourage people to take their own steps to prepare for flooding, for example by signing up to the Environment Agency’s free flood warning service.This first ever long-term investment programme will protect around 4,500 properties in the area alone and save the national economy £2.7 billion by 2021. The lifetime benefits of this investment will be even higher at over £30bn. New schemes may also be added as the programme progresses.
Since the beginning of this parliament flood defence investment has improved protection to over 230,000 homes and over 580,000 acres of land. This new investment will protect at least another 300,000 homes in England by the end of the decade.
The investment programme was published alongside a new long term study from the Environment Agency, which shows that the planned investment will reduce overall flood and coastal erosion risk in England.
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