FAILURE to press ahead with Morpeth’s cuts-threatened flood defence scheme could prove to be a massive false economy, a local Euro-MP has claimed.
Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall says the social and financial damage which would be caused by a repeat of the town’s 2008 flooding catastrophe would far outstrip the £17m cost of upgrading existing defences.
The MEP has sounded her warning in a letter to Defra Minister Richard Beynon in which she calls for the promised flood alleviation scheme to start as scheduled this year. Mrs Hall says it is “vital” for the future of Morpeth that the project at least gets under way in 2011, amid fears over its long-term prospects.
She has written to Mr Beynon as local campaigners prepare to meet Environment Agency officials tomorrow to discuss what happens next with the stalled scheme.
Work was due to start in December this year and be completed by late 2013, but the Agency’s Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee was told last month it is now almost certain to be deferred.
The scheme – which involves new and improved town centre flood walls and a holding reservoir upstream on the River Wansbeck – has not been included in the regional capital funding allocation from Defra for 2011/12.
It has fallen victim to a major cut in funding for flood defence work, and failed to score highly enough in a new national assessment system for protection schemes.
The regional flood defence committee was told the scheme might have to be broken down into its component parts and carried out in phases in a bid to make it affordable.
Mrs Hall says there is grave concern in Morpeth, where people were under the impression that funding for the scheme was ring-fenced and protected. She says flood victims have been hit by rising insurance bills, which will only get worse if the flood defences are not upgraded.
Her letter says: “The social and monetary damage of another flood would far outstrip the cost of the defence work. The known risk of flooding has, in itself, an economic cost as it deters prospective businesses from setting up in the town.”
She is seeking answers to whether the scheme has been cancelled or postponed, and if it is the latter, when work is expected to begin.
The letter goes on: “It is vital for the future of Morpeth that the flood defence project is at least started this year.
“Senior flood risk engineers have publicly stated that more needs to be done to minimise the risk of future floods. Without this work the risk to the people and businesses of the town remains grave. I therefore hope that it will be possible to reinstate the funding for the Morpeth flood defence project in the 2011/12 budget.’’
Tomorrow’s meeting in Morpeth – which has been organised by the town’s Flood Action Group – will involve representatives of the Environment Agency, the county and town councils, the local chamber of trade, Churches Together, the Lions Club, Greater Morpeth Development Trust, town centre developer Dransfield Properties and Northumbrian Water.
Yesterday Flood Action Group chairman, Alan Bell, said: “We hope the Agency officials will be able to explain more about the potential consequences and options facing us.”
