Floodwatch update

Major new flood defences to protect Coggeshall are not on the agenda, Ian Pearson MP, the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, has confirmed. Major new flood defences to protect Coggeshall are not on the agenda, Ian Pearson MP, the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, has confirmed.

In a letter to Braintree's MP, Brooks Newmark, the Minister said that, "I would like to reassure you and your constituents that the Government is committed to the effective management of flood and coastal erosion risk. Government funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management is running at an all time high with funding for capital improvement projects amounting to £169 million for 2006-7"

However, the briefing that officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs received from the Environment Agency and passed to Mr. Newmark told a different story.

Since 2001 the only major investment in flood defences has been the £3.8 million spent on the Halstead flood storage reservoir. Other investment consists of just three additional projects on the river Colne, and two on the Blackwater, accounting for a little over £200,000.

Brooks said, "although there has been some significant investment I remain very concerned that other crucial projects have been ruled out for financial rather than practical reasons."

Two studies in Coggeshall and Witham highlighted what the Environment Agency calls "technically feasible upstream storage schemes." But the schemes will, together, cost around £6 million and the Environment Agency believes that they will benefit under 250 homes.

The Agency has concluded that "Unfortunately, when judged against national priorities such schemes would not qualify for Grant in Aid funding and the locally raised 'Local Levy' budget would be insufficient to fund either project."

Brooks said, "we have just experienced a period of extreme weather conditions. The fact that they are not a 'national priority' will be little consolation to householders flooded out of their own homes if conditions take a turn for the worse once again.

With climate change deservedly so high on the political agenda the Government must re-examine the way that low-lying areas like Essex receive funding for flood defences.