Huge £6.7mn investment in flood and coastal resilience announced

North East Lincolnshire Council and Doncaster Council are set to receive £6.7mn for investment in flood and coastal resilience from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The funding is designed to support the trying out of alternative solutions to flooding problems. This will include a range of sustainable drainage retrofit techniques within the highway and around schools.

The project will be run for six years by the Environment Agency. Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water are also partners in the scheme alongside the councils.

The investment is to be targeted specifically to stop the blight of surface water flooding in urban areas where there is little possibility for large scale flood storage works. It is hoped that the sustainable retrofit drainage systems to be trialed will not only increase reduce the effect of flooding, but also enhance the environment.

Stewart Swinburn, North East Lincolnshire Council’s portfolio holder for environment and transport, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded this funding from DEFRA to help create and deliver a programme where we can reduce the likelihood and consequences of flooding in the area. We will also be working with local schools in the area to provide curriculum approved lessons around the water cycle, sustainability and water management.

“I look forward to watching this project develop over the coming years.” In North East Lincolnshire, the council and its delivery partner Equans will work with Anglian Water on methods to be trialed.

“We are thrilled this funding is coming to North East Lincolnshire,” said Jonathan Glerum, Anglian Water’s regional flood risk manager. “It is the cumulation of a number of years’ hard work with our partners at the council, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the difference this project will make to how we manage flood risk and enhance the environment collaboratively across the council’s area.”

Flooding and seaside reclaiming of land is a significant issue in northern Lincolnshire. According to an interactive map by Climate Central unveiled earlier this year, sea level rises could lead to parts of Grimsby and Cleethorpes being wiped out by 2090. This is also far from the only flood-related major investment of late.

Flood defences in South Ferriby costing £14mn, including 13-metre long flood gates that can be slid across the A1077 in just 15 minutes, were completed in 2021. The village suffered in 2013 the worst tidal surge in living memory, costing an estimated £50bn in damage.

And at the start of November, North East Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee heard behind closed doors a presentation by the Environment Agency setting out in more detail plans for multi-million pound flood defences covering Immingham and Stallingborough towards Grimsby. In 2019, Stallingborough experienced severe flooding when between 50 and 60mm of rainfall was recorded in less than 24 hours across northern Lincolnshire.

Andy Smith, Equans project lead: “We are excited to be working on this vital project to help become more resilient to the effects of flooding and climate change within our local area. The lessons we will gather from this six-year programme will be used to help inform future approaches for investment in flood and coastal risk management.”