Who’s going to foot the bill?
Berkshire: Call for Government to fund flood defences
The Royal Borough is calling on the Government to foot the bill to reinstate a major flood alleviation scheme in Berkshire.
The River Thames Scheme is a multi-million pound project which originally aimed to build three flood alleviation channels alongside the River Thames to protect up to 15,000 homes from flooding.
The Royal Borough pulled out of the scheme in August 2020 after the previous Conservative administration decided against making a £53million contribution to the project.
The River Thames Scheme is now proceeding without the Berkshire Channel, previously known as Channel One, which would have protected flood-prone communities in Datchet and Wraysbury.
The Government has now officially recognised the Surrey section of the scheme as a ‘project of national significance’, requiring the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council to apply for a Development Consent Order.
Lib Dem councillor Richard Coe, cabinet member for environmental services, has submitted a formal response on behalf of the council in response to a pre-application consultation over the scheme.
Councillor Coe wrote: “Local authorities simply aren’t funded to deliver multi-million-pound flood alleviation schemes. That aside, this is clearly a scheme of national significance, and we believe that it should therefore be delivered through national funding.
“This is why we are asking for Government to commit to funding the proposals in full – including Channel One – recognising that this is an issue of national importance and as stated in the vision it will enhance the resilience of nationally important infrastructure.”
In January, Wraysbury experienced its most severe flooding since 2014 which saw dozens of residents evacuated from their properties and the village green submerged. Angry residents called on the Berkshire Channel of the River
Thames Scheme to be reinstated during a fractious public meeting in January.
Councillor Coe added in his letter: “It is likely that flooding events will become a more regular occurrence over the coming years, which will have a devastating impact on many areas of our borough with the areas of Datchet, Wraysbury, Old Windsor and Cookham seeing some of the most significant impacts.
“To ensure communities in our borough are better protected from future flooding events, it is our firm belief that the previously proposed Berkshire element of the scheme must be delivered in full.”
Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury councillor Ewan Larcombe, who represents the National Flood Prevention Party, described the Berkshire Channel as ‘critical’ to managing flood risk in the borough’s flood-prone communities.