A funding boost of £4m was approved by the council’s Executive yesterday (Tuesday 5 December) to support flood relief measures.
Almost 700 properties were internally flooded across Lincolnshire in October after Storm Babet brought more than a month’s worth of rain to the county in less than 24 hours. Many roads and acres of agricultural land were also impacted.
Each case of internal flooding is investigated by Lincolnshire County Council to produce what is called a ‘Section 19’ report. As part of the reports, there will be recommendations that could be undertaken by relevant authorities to minimise the likelihood of further flooding in that area.
The extra funding will be used to carry out these investigations and facilitate some of the recommendations where the council is able.
Announcing the extra funding, Cllr Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said:
“The devastating impacts of Storm Babet were felt by residents right across Lincolnshire, in one of the single worst flooding incidents we have seen as a county. Now we are keen to understand what happened, and how we can best protect these communities from flooding in the future.
“Through the careful management of our spending we have an underspend that we can allocate to this important issue. Through the extra £4m investment we will make sure each flooding investigation is carried out thoroughly, and in a timely manner, so that alleviation measures can be put in place as soon as possible.”
Government grant funding has also been made available to help homeowners and businesses affected by flooding due to Storm Babet. You can find out more about the different financial support available at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/floodgrants.
Cllr Colin Davie, executive member for environment, said:
“Where we’ve recently completed drainage improvement schemes – such as in Long Bennington or Kirton – the communities were much better protected during Storm Babet. Through these investigations we can identify where further drainage schemes will have the most impact, and provide similar increased protection for more areas across the county.
“If climate change is going to make storms like Babet more common, we want to make our communities as prepared as possible.”
Find advice about preparing for flooding on the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum website at www.lincolnshireresilienceforum.org.
And, if you have a watercourse running through or next to your land, you can find advice on riparian ownership at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/flood-risk-management.