Call for more flood defence cash as Shropshire to get share of £6 million fund
Flood defence spending must rise to £1 billion a year over the next decade to cope with the rising threat of flooding, insurers and campaigners have urged.
There should also be an end to building new homes in flood-risk areas, to prevent communities living in "constant fear of flooding", the Association of British Insurers said, as it launched the Flood Free Homes campaign.
The call came after it was revealed Shropshire is to get a 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.
But campaigners say current investment is too low and that, despite planning rules, some 20,000 new properties are being built on the floodplain each year in the UK.
Huw Evans, deputy director general at the ABI, said : "The need for this campaign to address the UK's rising flood threat has never been more important. No action is not an option.
"Last winter's floods highlighted the trauma and devastation flooding brings. How we manage our land and water has to become central to Government decision-making across the UK.
"Without adequate long-term investment in flood defence protection that reflects the increasing threat, a zero tolerance approach towards building in flood risk areas and political agreement, too many communities will continue to live with the constant fear of flooding."
Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and Ironbridge were among towns flooded last year, despite investment in flood barriers.
