Up to £40 million is to be invested in flood relief schemes across England.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey confirmed the investment today, 20 July, which will see 13 flood schemes funded to help protect more than 7,000 properties, including over 5,000 homes.

In the town of Weymouth, £1.2m is being allocated to improve the harbour wall, reducing flood risk to 450 properties and helping to kick start the regeneration of Weymouth town centre. In addition, more than £10m is also being awarded to a scheme to protect deprived communities in the St. Austell Bay area of Cornwall.

Elsewhere, five flood schemes in the north of England will receive almost £17.4m, while Rochdale will receive a total of £5m to develop one of the largest inland flood schemes in the region. Overall, the defences in Rochdale will increase the level of flood protection to 1,000 residential properties as well as critical infrastructure.


Eight miles to the west, £7m has been awarded for new flood defence work around the River Irwell in Bury and Radcliffe as a first step towards the development of a new £46m flood defence scheme, better protecting 870 properties.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: "This extra funding for flood defences will unlock schemes that will better protect thousands of homes and businesses against flooding, supporting regeneration in important towns and villages in the north and coastal communities It will boost our resilience as a nation and help our communities to grow and prosper.

"The north of England is a hotbed of culture, innovation and growth and this multi-million investment in flood schemes will help protect more than 2,700 homes and businesses from flooding.

"The defences will also enhance the environment and bolster economic growth as part of our commitment to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding by 2021."

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said: "Across the country we are seeing more extreme weather, which makes the Environment Agency's role to protect people, homes and businesses from flooding even more important.

"From 2015 to 2021 we will reduce the risk of flooding for at least 300,000 homes so this £40million is another welcome boost to achieving that. It is great news for communities – not only will it help us build flood schemes but it will also help wider economic growth."

(LM)