Details of the spending on 13 Government funded schemes
As a part of the Autumn Statement Government (Defra) have announced 13 major schemes on their website.
Making flood defence consents part of the environmental permitting framework
We want to know what you think about our proposals to change flood defence consents by including them in the environmental permitting framework.
Flood defence consents are needed before people undertake activities in, on, over, under or near watercourses to ensure they do not increase flood risk. Changing these consents to be part of the risk based environmental permitting framework will allow us to introduce different types of permits. This would reduce the burdens on applicants by allowing quicker and simpler ways of applying for a permit. It will also allow the Environment Agency to focus on the high risk activities.
These changes would apply to England and Wales.
The Somerset Rivers Authority set up
In a Memorandum of Understanding, Defra and Somerset County Council have agreed funding for the Somerset Rivers Authority. Local people in Somerset will be better able to manage flood risk after the Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss announced £1.9 million funding for the Somerset Rivers Authority today enabling it to start work next year. The Authority will receive £2.7 million in total from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Somerset County Council and the Somerset Consortium of Drainage Boards to reduce the flood risk in the region.
As a result, the Somerset Rivers Authority will be established by the end of January next year and will give local people the power to control and manage local flood risk in their area. In a Memorandum of Understanding, Defra and Somerset County Council have agreed Defra will provide £1.9 million, the Council will provide £600,000 and the Somerset Consortium of Drainage Boards, along with the county’s five district councils, will provide £200,000 for the first year of funding. A review will be carried out to identify a long-term, local funding solution from 2016/17.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defra-and-local-partners-set-up-somerset-rivers-authority
Flooding in Focus – New RSPB report
2014 has seen some of the most extreme weather ever recorded hitting the UK. Flooding is causing misery for residents and farmers across southern England, including the Somerset Levels and the Thames and Severn valleys. This has sparked a public debate on how the Government musters the required leadership to help communities cope with flooding and other effects of extreme weather, which are in line with the predictions of climate scientists.
The RSPB wants to see a solution that works with nature, not against it, and ensures people, farming and wildlife all have a place in our countryside. Projects like the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s Steart Marshes in Somerset and the Environment Agency’s Medmerry managed-realignment project in Sussex, now managed by the RSPB, are leading the way in creating resilience, flood protection and wildlife-rich habitats.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/forprofessionals/policy/water/flooding.aspx
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