Dorset to get government investment in flood defences

It will make up part of the will be part of the 2-point-6 billion pounds announced to be invested on flood defences across the UK

Tens of thousands of homes and business will be better protected from flooding as the government unveils a record package to build new flood defences and maintain and repair those already in place.

As part of the Plan for Change, the Government is committing a record two-year investment of £2.65 billion with 52,000 properties set to benefit from new defences by March 2026. To shore up creaking defences in need of repairs, funding will be reprioritised for investment in much-needed maintenance, benefitting a further 14,500 properties. This means a total of 66,500 properties will benefit from this funding.

With the frequency of extreme weather events only continuing to rise, leading to devastating impacts for people, homes, business and communities and costing the UK economy billions each year, decisive action to invest in adapting to climate change has never been more important.

As well as protecting families from the devastation of flooding, the investment supports economic growth by protecting businesses, supporting jobs, and supporting a stable economy in the face of the increasing risk of flooding as a result of climate change. It will also protect farmland which has been badly hit by recent storms, in turn helping to safeguard farm businesses and farmers’ profits.

This Government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as years of underinvestment and damaging storms left 3000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.

The announcement comes as the Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce meets today, with Floods Minister Emma Hardy joined by ministers from across government alongside representatives from the Met Office, Local Resilience Forums, and the National Farmers Union. They will look at further steps that can be taken to protect the 6.3 million properties in England at risk from flooding, lessons to learn from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter

Here in the South West, major projects such as the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset will benefit, receiving £43 million. Meanwhile an additional £3.5 million will be provided for the Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defences in Dorset.

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