£2m war chest to help turn the tide on flooding in communities across region

Mark Branagan

Small flood defence schemes which do not qualify for Government funding are to be given 2m in the coming year from a local authority war chest.

Most flood protection work is funded by the Government through the Environment Agency, which last year had a budget of 55.5m for Yorkshire.

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But the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee supports schemes which would not qualify for national flood funding but are important to the region.

Yesterday members voted to boost investment in these small local schemes by 20 per cent – increasing the amount available from 1.128m to 1.5m in 2010-11.

The funding comes from a levy on councils. Yorkshire Forward will also contribute 500,000 to the fund, which will take it to almost 2m in the next financial year.

It will go to schemes which reduce flood risks without hard defences, such as by using trees, land management and flood storage.

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Acting Committee Chairman Tim Cole said: “This funding represents a lifeline for small communities which are vulnerable to flooding and the increase means that we can draw up a longer term programme to help even more people.”

York Council leader and committee member Andrew Waller said: “Local authorities are extremely stretched in this financial climate but we believe that action needs to be taken now.”

Schemes being supported by the levy include Sheffield’s Nursery Street, which is getting 400,000 over several years towards flood protection work on the River Don.

For Leeds Wyke Beck, a contribution of 500,000 is being made over several years to combat flooding on the Dunhills Estate.

As well as being in the pipeline for Government-sponsored defences, Pickering is getting 200,000 from the committee towards flood storage areas.