Flooding Fund: Â£2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

Flooding Fund: £2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

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More than 1,400 projects will receive a share of £2.3bn to protect against flooding for 300,000 homes.

But environmental group Friends of the Earth has suggested that figure is not high enough and there is still a £500m shortfall in the flood defences budget in the next parliament.

The spending includes major investment in areas including the Humber Estuary, with £80m set to be spent, and £196m for the Thames Estuary.

Ministers will also commit to spending £15.5m on flood defences in Somerset in the next six years - including £4.2m on the Somerset Levels which were hit badly by flooding last winter.

The Government has come under fire over funding for flood defences.

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "We all saw the destruction and heartache caused by flooding last year and that is why this investment is vital to build up Britain's defences for the future.

"The projects we are announcing today will protect some of the country's most at risk locations ensuring that we will be as prepared as possible for future severe weather."

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Gallery: Somerset Flooding - Before & After

Before: a farm in West Yeo, near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

After: The flooded farmland in West Yeo

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Before: The village of Moorland near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

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After: Flooded properties in Moorland

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Before: Walton-On-Thames, Surrey

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But he admitted it was not new money, telling Sky News: "This is an Autumn Statement that's not a giveaway, where everything that we are doing is paid for.

"These capital allocations on the flood defences the roads...we set that out last year and that's a choice we have made within the amount of money we have available."

Officials said the six-year programme, announced ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, would help prevent more than £30bn of economic damage.

Other projects which stand to benefit include more than £17m going to Tonbridge, Yalding and surrounding communities in Kent; £73m for a barrier at Boston, Lincolnshire; £42m for the Oxford western conveyance scheme and £47m for coastal defences in Rossall, Lancashire.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) said documents from regional flood and coastal committees showed there were £1.6bn of viable projects that were not getting the go-ahead.

FOE Campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: "A year after Britain's wettest winter ever, the Chancellor's leaked flood defence plans simply don't hold water.

"Faced with rising sea levels, the Government needs to be investing far more in flood defences to protect households and prevent climate change from the outset."

Shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said: "Communities at risk of flooding won't buy Government spin on what is simply a re-announcement of capital funding confirmed a year ago.

"This is not new money - at the beginning of this Parliament David Cameron cut the flood protection budget by over £100m a year. As a result we are playing catch up on flood defences."

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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