£525,000 funding boost for flood defences

More than half a million pounds of funding will go towards protecting homes and businesses from future flooding.
Last year's floods at Hebden Bridge. A woman cleans up on Market Street, Hebden BridgeLast year's floods at Hebden Bridge. A woman cleans up on Market Street, Hebden Bridge
Last year's floods at Hebden Bridge. A woman cleans up on Market Street, Hebden Bridge

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) today announced £525,000 will be handed to Calderdale Council to fund innovative projects to improve flood protection.

In Calderdale 1000 people will be protected from flood risk thanks to volunteers who will monitor rivers and lakes so that higher levels of water can be drained safely to avoid flooding.

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Defra has contributed £310,000 to this project with a further £215,000 raised through partnership funding from the council, local businesses and a community trust.

The project partnership also includes organisations with regional interests like the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water and the Canal & River Trust.

The funding comes from the Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder scheme which was launched by Defra in December 2012.

Environment minister Richard Benyon said: “We want to help local communities do more to protect their homes and possessions from the risk of flooding. The Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder Scheme will enable communities to find simple, effective ways to minimise their flood risk, improve their levels of preparedness, and build confidence and increased peace of mind.

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“All together with money from local communities and business raised through our successful partnership funding scheme, over £2.3 billion is being spent to protect people from flooding. This is more money than ever before, and we are on course to better protect 165,000 homes by 2015.”

The following Local Authorities will be receiving funding: Blackburn, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Cornwall, Devon, Liverpool, Northamptonshire, Rochdale, Slough, Southampton, Swindon, Warwickshire and West Sussex.