Shropshire to get share of £6 million flood defence cash

The money pledged by the Environment Agency's English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee will go towards projects such as the £1.2 million flood alleviation scheme in Much Wenlock and individual property level protection work at 55 homes across the county. Cash will also be spent on finding ways to slow the flow of debris into rivers such as planting woodlands.

It comes after the Government allocated Shropshire just £2.5 million of a £2 billion Grant in Aid pot to tackle flooding in December. The Local Levy funds announced by the Environment Agency will support the Government funding.

Those behind the scheme today claimed the funds provided by the RFCC in recent years had helped provisionally secure up to £15 million of national funding over the next six years. In each of the past two years, about £110,000 has been contributed by Shropshire, with a similar amount of Local Levy funding contributed in previous years.

The ongoing investment has helped deliver £7.1 million of flood defence schemes, including Frankwell and Coleham in Shrewsbury – which benefit properties and protect key roads at the Welsh and English bridges – and around the Shropshire and Wales border along the River Severn.

Shropshire Council has used £300,000 of this investment to deliver flood defence schemes which protect 77 properties.

Councillor Malcolm Price, RFCC member for Shropshire Council, said: " This is great news. We must now continue to work hard to deliver these schemes and identify new ones that may be able to attract further Local Levy and Government funding in the future."

Anthony Perry, area flood risk manager, said:

"This money will go a long way in making communities more resilient, and protecting them from the effects of flooding which we know can be devastating."