The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South East England has welcomed the decision by West Sussex County Council to allocate £8.25 million from its reserves to help tackle flooding problems in the county.
Director of ICE South East England, John Laverty, said: “In December ICE South East England called for local authorities to give a higher priority to flood relief schemes so we are pleased to see that West Sussex County Council is allocating £8.25 million from its reserves to help tackle flooding problems including:
- Fixing highway drainage hotspots;
- Contributing to schemes with partners where the drainage system needs improvements;
- Supporting community solutions including working with owners of private ditches; and
- Restoring the highways network that has been damaged by the winter weather.
“The Environment Agency states that every £1 invested in flood risk it returns around £8 worth of benefit so this scheme has the potential to generate £66 million worth of benefits.
“Having your home or business flooded is a devastating experience leading to the immediate loss of property, including irreplaceable many items such as photographs, and then a long process of drying out the property and making it fit for purpose again.
“The events here in West Sussex over the last few months serve as a stark reminder that Britain will continue to face the consequences of severe rainfall until action is taken to ensure we are more flood resilient.
“The impacts of flooding are far reaching - it afflicts communities, homes, businesses and sadly takes lives.
“It also often leads to the failure of critical infrastructure networks such as power and transport, further restricting access to basic services when they’re needed most. The often long-term effect on businesses is damaging the UK economy as a whole.
“ICE South East England believes that local communities need to be able adopt a wider range of measures that are not solely reliant on conventional flood defences, but this requires the appropriate levels of funding and guidance to be in place – this announcement by West Sussex County Council is a big step towards starting this process and making the county more flood resilient for the future.
“Adopting a diverse range of solutions will improve our resilience, and ensure these benefits are realised. We are pleased that West Sussex County Council shares our views that such measures need to include improved maintenance of drainage ditches and storm drains so they can perform their function effectively as well as investment in major projects.
“We cannot just wait for floods to destroy homes - we must take effective measures to mitigate and avoid damage.”
ICE South East England has 11,000 members living and working in the region. More information can be found at www.ice.org.uk/see. You can follow ICE South East England on Twitter: @ICE_SEEngland