Cumbria County Council has revealed that it has received about £6m in funding to develop new ways to respond to flooding.
The Environment Agency confirmed earlier today that Cumbria would receive a share of £150m to implement a variety of new projects to improve flood resilience and response.
Cumbria County Council has confirmed the figure the county will receive is about £6m and that further details on the projects that will be developed using this funding will be confirmed and published in due course – following the successful application for funding, the process to determine which projects can be delivered with the available funds is now underway.
The council will now work alongside the Environment Agency, other risk management authorities (including United Utilities and district councils), non-Government organisations, parish councils and local communities to develop detailed plans for designing and delivering the projects over the next six years.
The projects, which will be led and delivered by the county council and supported by the Environment Agency, and are part of the government’s long-term plan on flood and coastal erosion and a renewed effort to develop and test new approaches to tackle flooding threats.
The schemes will trial a wide range of different approaches to resilience, tailored to local communities. These include plans to test a range of solutions to improve resilience to flooding, including working with farmers and landowners to deliver natural flood management projects such as leaky dams, tree planting and flood storage to slow the flow and store floodwaters in a range of locations across Cumbria.
Keith Little, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “I am pleased to welcome this funding and would like to thank the officers and colleagues from the council and our partners for their hard work behind the scenes to reach this point.
“The projects will deliver improved protection against flooding, more resilience to future flood threats, and help the natural environment to thrive and recover – these are innovative new approaches and I am delighted to see them being developed in Cumbria, where our communities and economy have been hugely impacted by flooding in recent years.”
Stewart Mounsey area flood and coastal risk manager for Cumbria said: “This funding is fantastic news and we are grateful to our partners who ensured the success of this bid. With this boost, projects will be able to demonstrate how practical innovative actions can work to improve long term resilience to flooding
“As well as slowing the flow of flood water, natural flood risk management often has other benefits such as providing habitats for wildlife and helping to improve air and water quality.
“We are excited to work alongside our partners in Cumbria County Council to help take these projects forward.”
