MALLING BROOKS DEFENCES DELAYED BY A YEAR; OTHER SCHEMES ON THE HORIZON AGAIN?
Update on flood defences 12th January 2004
The Environment Agency will apply for planning consent for a scheme for Malling Brooks by the end of the month.
If planning consent is given, work will start in January 2005 and be completed in 20 weeks. This is about a year later than had been hoped, partly because of technical delays and partly because Local Authorities represented on the Sussex Flood Defence Committee would not agree to a big enough Council Tax Levy after the Environment Agency had indicated that Malling Brooks would bear the brunt of any shortfall in funding. Councillors and the Environment Agency should justify this apparently arbitrary action or spread the shortfall more evenly.
Planning permission may be controversial, because;
- The scheme will cause increased risk to some undefended areas in extreme floods.
- The scheme may be intrusive.
The scheme should be supported if it is part of an agreed strategy to defend all areas in Lewes that are at risk of flooding.
The Environment Agency has submitted to DEFRA a revised comprehensive strategy for flood defence in Lewes that it thinks meets the objections that DEFRA had to the strategy that was launched in September 2002.
The strategy will be published as soon as DEFRA has given its approval. Budgets approved by the Sussex Flood Defence Committee suggest that the Agency is proposing flood defence schemes for all Cliffe to be defended in 2006/7 and all other cells except Landport to be defended in 2007/8.
The EA should include Landport in the strategy and confirm that the strategy will offer equal standards of flood protection throughout Lewes within 5 years.
Further information and clarification, including tables that summarise figures agreed by the Sussex Flood Defence Committee on 7th January, can be obtained from Tom Crossett, Flood Defences coordinator on 01273 473565 or defences@lewes-flood-action.org.uk.
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