Six local authorities are to receive £15M to develop surface water-management plans, under the Government’s action plan in response to the Pitt review on the 2007 floods.
Gloucestershire, Hull, Leeds, Richmond Upon Thames, Warrington and West Berkshire are to use the money to co-ordinate and lead flood management locally.
Announcing the plans on Wednesday, environment minister, Hilary Benn, said: ‘In two-tier council areas, this responsibility will rest with county councils, but we will encourage them to work closely with districts, internal drainage boards and others.’
Derek Crouch, project manager at West Berkshire Council, said the funding amounted to ‘pump priming money’, and urged the Government to commit further to help carry out the plans.
‘We want to see a scheme which will deliver for the people of West Berkshire, not another research project,’ he said. More than £60M will also be invested overall in taking forward the priorities identified in the review.
The Government is establishing a £5M grant scheme, which local authorities can bid for, to help people to better protect their homes from the risk of flooding. This help will be available where it is not possible to provide protection through community level defences.
A new £7.7M flood forecasting centre, run by the Met Office and Environment Agency, will provide a single national forecasting and alert service. It is due to begin operation in April 2009.
But Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association environment board, said it was ‘disappointing’ that the Government had not outlined any firm proposals to deal with the skills problem. ‘We must look at ways of recruiting and retaining more people to the technical posts that are so vital to preventing floods,’ he said.
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