12.09.19
Government pledges £62m funding to improve flood defences
Government has pledged £62m funding to improve flood defences across England, with more than 9,000 homes set to benefit from the improvements.
Environment secretary Theresa Villiers announced the new round of investment into flood defences, which will support communities across Yorkshire, Cumbria, the North East and South East of England.
Thirteen projects have been approved to receive a share of the £62m funding pot. It is expected that as well as helping develop existing flood defence infrastructure, the additional investment will assist in boosting economic regeneration in those areas, increasing prosperity.
Many of the projects set to benefit from the funding are in communities affected from winter flooding in 2015.
The additional funding is set to support the development of 11 projects in the Northern Powerhouse, including seven in Yorkshire, four in Cumbria and Lancashire and two in the North East. Calder Valley is set to receive £19m, where the Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge and Brighouse schemes will be developed.
More than 3,000 properties flooded in the West Yorkshire valley during the 2015 floods, leaving communities in the area badly affected.
Ms Villiers said of the announcement: “I am delighted to announce over £60m of additional funding to better protect communities which are vulnerable to flooding, particularly across parts of northern England.
Events this summer have shown that investing in flood risk management is more important than ever, and this funding builds on our long-standing £2.6 billion commitment to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion over six years.”