- Funding will drive innovation to increase resilience and
decrease flood risk in susceptible communities
- Nature-based solutions such as tree planting and peatland
restoration, rainwater harvesting, and property-level measures
among solutions which could improve resilience
-
25 areas will be selected,
with projects used to inform future approaches and
investments
A transformative £200m programme to improve
the resilience of communities at risk of flooding and coastal
change across England has been opened today (Monday 9
November).
This could include planting trees and
restoring peatland to reduce run-off into rivers or making
changes in people’s homes so they can recover more quickly after
flooding.
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) and Coast
Protection Authorities (CPAs) are being invited to express an
interest in becoming one of these areas, with a deadline of 15
January 2021.
Each area will receive approximately £6m
between 2021 and 2027. The funding is separate and in addition to
the £5.2bn programme of investment in flood and sea defences
announced by the government in the Budget in March. Areas will be
selected based on a range of criteria, including repeated
significant flooding in the past.
The rest of the money will support other
flooding and coastal resilience activities including the
development of long-term investment pathways in the Thames and
Humber Estuaries, Yorkshire and the Severn Valley.
Environment Minister said:
“The impact of flooding can be devastating,
and even more so for those who have suffered repeatedly. Our
ambitious new Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme
will help communities test different approaches to become more
resilient to flooding and coastal change alongside our record
investment to build and maintain our flood
defences.
“This funding will not only help to build
long-term resilience in those 25 areas, but the evidence and
learning from those projects will be used to inform future
approaches to, and investments in, flood and coastal erosion risk
management across the country.”
The funding can be used for projects to
improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion, such
as:
- sustainable drainage systems and dual use water storage for
flood attenuation and water resources, or rainwater harvesting
- building community and voluntary sector capacity to respond
and recover
- proactive approaches for making existing homes and businesses
community infrastructure more flood resilient, such as installing
flood doors, raising electrics off ground level, and using
materials such as tiles that increase resistance to damage from
water
Environment Agency Chair, Emma Howard
Boyd, said:
“Most flood protection is created when it’s
not raining. The homes and infrastructure built today should last
50 to 100 years, so while we prepare for flooding this winter,
and create defences for the decades ahead, we also need to test
resilience measures for a whole century of accelerating climate
change.
“In delivering this programme the Environment
Agency plans to provide excellent examples of domestic leadership
on adaptation and resilience ahead of COP26.”
LLFAs and CPAs will work together with
partners to develop their expressions of interest by 15 January.
The 25 selected areas will receive some initial funding to
develop their project proposals into more detailed plans during
spring 2021, before the projects formally begin from summer
2021.
The opening of the Flood and Coastal
Resilience Innovation Programme coincides with the launch of the
Environment Agency’s Flood Action Week (9 – 15 November), a
public awareness campaign aimed at informing people in at-risk
areas of what to do in the event of a flood.
