NORTH DEFENCES FLOODY USELESS

Many safeguards left in ‘poor or very poor’ state

THOUSANDS of vital flood defences were in such a state of ruin last year that they would not protect against extreme weather, a probe found.

More than 3,400 “high consequence” flood assets in England – those where there is a high risk to life and property if they fail – were judged by the Environment Agency to be almost useless.

This means more than one in 20 were in disrepair in 2019-20, the highest proportion in years.

In Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Shropshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire, where nearly 600 homes flooded last week, 831 were found to be in a “poor or very poor” condition.

That is 9% of all the assets in these areas – compared to 6% of defences across England as a whole. In Cheshire, 16% were poor or very poor, with the figure at 12% in both Merseyside and Manchester.

Communities in the

North are struggling with flooding in the wake of Storm Christoph and melting snow, with 32 flood warnings and 54 flood alerts active across England.

The data was obtained from the Environment Agency using the Freedom of Information Act by Unearthed, an arm of Greenpeace UK.

Dr Douglas Parr, chief scientist, said: “The poor state of so many critical flood defences puts thousands of people and homes at risk. This is unacceptable. We know the climate crisis is making our winters wetter, increasing the risk of floods.” Greenpeace analysis found that of the 3,460 “poor or very poor” defences, 791 were “very poor”, and had “severe defects resulting in complete performance failure”. The rest had defects that “significantly reduce” performance. Experts warn the UK faces an increased risk from extreme weather. Major floods were expected every 15 to 20 years in the last century, but now it is every two to five years.

Dr Parr urged ministers to boost funding for flood defences and stop building on floodplains. He added: “We’ve had warnings of the climate threat for years, so there’s no excuse for not being prepared.”

Defra said: “Since 2015, we have invested £2.6billion in flood schemes, better protecting 300,000 homes and over the next six years we are doubling that for 2,000 new defences to better protect 336,000.”

The Environment Agency said more than 20,000 assets inspected for its 2020 recovery scheme were “winter ready”.

It said 95% of its 78,000 flood assets, like embankments, culverts and tidal barriers, were in good condition with repairs prioritised when there is “significant threat”.