[T]he Environment Agency is reminding residents in Cumbria of opportunities to view and comment on the short list of preferred options for future flood risk management in the county, as part of an ongoing series of community drop-in events.
Residents in Lower Eden, Lower Derwent, Kent and Levens have already had the opportunity to view plans and talk to Environment Agency officers at local events which run until May 2018 across the county.
The next part of the series of sessions, which will be held between 2pm-7pm will be at:
- Skiddaw Hotel, Keswick on 13 March,
- Outback Hall, Leven Valley Primary School, Backbarrow on 14 March,
- St Michael’s Church, Flacon Place, Workington on 20 March
- The Market Hall, Wigton, 28 March and
- A venue to be confirmed for Flimby and Maryport in Mary
The sessions are part of the appraisal process, to identify the best ways of investing up to £72 million the government allocated to Cumbria for improved flood defences following storms Desmond and Eva in 2015.
Following on from the community events in summer 2017, when residents had the opportunity to see the long list of options for future flood risk management at drop-in sessions and online, the Environment Agency is holding 15 events based on the three river catchments in Cumbria, to share the short list of refined options.
This is an update on the ‘appraisal work’ which the government provided £3 million of funding to complete. The purpose of this work is to ensure we implement the right schemes for those communities, where it is proven that additional flood risk management measures are required based on strong scientific evidence.
The appraisal work has been carried out by multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, economists and environmental professionals using the Flood Investigation Reports and local and historic flood information to evaluate the options to reduce flood risk. These projects are organised by settlement, however they consider how flood risk can be reduced along the whole of a river catchment – from source to sea.
Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager, Andy Brown said: “Residents who have come along to the community drop-in session held already in Carlisle, Eamont Bridge, Appleby, Kendal, Staveley, Low Crosby, Ambleside, Windermere and Cockermouth have been able to give us some great feedback on the options, using their local knowledge which will form part of the decision making process on which projects to progress with.
“The short list of options, which people can see and discuss with us at the drop-ins, is the culmination of more than two years work. During this time we have been working to identity the best way to use this investment to protect communities, working in partnership at a county, catchment and community scale to find the best ways to manage flood risk to residents and businesses across Cumbria.
“I strongly encourage residents to come along to the remaining sessions if they have not attended any of the earlier events. We are providing people with opportunities to bring local knowledge and to share their views.”
More information about flood risk management and the preferred options are available on the Cumbria Strategic Flood Partnership website www.cumbriastrategicfloodpartnership.org
