£42.8 million investment in flood protection in the North West

MORE than 50 flood defence schemes across the North West – including some in Warringto – are to benefit from a £42.8 million investment by the Environment Agency.
Homes and businesses are to be better protected from flooding and coastal erosion as part of plans published by the government and Environment Agency, with £42.8m invested in more than 50 schemes in 2020/21.
The investment is part of plans outlining £5.2 billion of investment over the next six years. More than £860 million will be spent in 2021/22 boosting design and construction of more than 1,000 schemes across England as part of the Environment Agency’s annual capital programme.
It is all part of the Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan which sets out how new flood and coastal schemes will better protect 336,000 properties by 2027, helping to avoid £32 billion in wider economic damages and reducing the national flood risk by up to 11 per cent. This follows the Environment Agency’s successful delivery of the government’s previous £2.6 billion investment between 2015 and 2021, better protecting more than 314,000 homes.
Local examples of schemes that will receive investment in the first year of the six-year programme include:
– Penketh and Whittle Brooks – The Penketh and Whittle Brooks Scheme, which will protect up to 211 properties upon completion, received a much awaited boost of £480,000 as part of the government funding package of £170m to accelerate flood defence construction in 2020 or 2021. Development of the scheme is progressing with a construction start date in place for later this year. The scheme targets flooding from Penketh and Whittle Brooks, will use several methods in key locations in an effort to reduce flood risk to homes and businesses
– Sankey Brook- There are a number of potential flood risk measures that are being considered to develop the preferred solution for the Sankey Brook Flood Risk Management Scheme, which will protect up to 580 homes and businesses.
These include Linear Flood Defences, Flood Storage Attenuation areas, improved channel of the watercourse and its conveyance and Natural Flood Management. Environmental benefits and opportunities are also being considered throughout the development of the scheme to ensure that the Sankey Brook Flood Risk Management Scheme enhances the environment by creating or improving habitats in the area, improving recreational and amenity areas, delivering tree planting and other similar opportunities which will develop and enhance the character of the area.
Environment Agency chairman Emma Howard Boyd said: “We have seen some devastating flooding around the world so far this summer. No one can prevent all flooding and climate change means the risk is increasing, but we can reduce the risks.
“Having completed the government’s six year capital programme on time and on budget, better protecting over 300,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion, this year we began the government’s new £5.2 billion flood programme.
“These schemes should provide reassurance to communities and businesses, but no one should have a false sense of security. I strongly urge people to sign up for flood warnings and regularly check flood risk on gov.uk.”
Ollie Hope, area flood and coastal risk manager for Cheshire and Merseyside said:
“Alongside local authorities and partners, we have made great progress in the last six years to reduce flood risk across Cheshire and Merseyside. This includes completion of major schemes such as Warrington and Northwich, all of which are helping to bring peace of mind to communities. However, with the climate emergency bringing more extreme weather, we must now redouble our efforts to make our communities more resilient in future.
“We know there is more to do, which is why we are investing more than £42m in over 50 new flood and coastal erosion schemes across Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire over the next six years, to protect thousands more people, homes and businesses.”
The funding will be accompanied by a consultation in the autumn, where the Government will look at how to better protect frequently flooded communities, following a call for evidence earlier this year. It will consider how to strengthen the assessment of local circumstances, such as where areas have flooded on multiple occasions, when allocating funding during the six-year plan.
The Government will bring in tighter guidance for planning authorities as part of a package of actions to better protect and prepare communities for flooding. Improvements to flood insurance to allow flooded households to claim extra money to install property flood resilience measures – like air brick covers, flood doors and flood resistant paint – and measures to tackle the risks from surface water flooding are also included in the plans.