New Flood Defenses for South Coast

New flood defenses will benefit Kent, Hampshire and Sussex to the tune of over £330 million, the government announced today.

Homes in Sandwich, Whitstable, Yalding and Shoreham-by-Sea will be better protected from floods thanks to an unprecedented six-year £2.3 billion flood defense program.

The new flood defense scheme in Shoreham-by-Sea, just one of 170 schemes in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex getting the green light today, is worth over £26 million and will protect thousands of homes.

Some examples of the schemes funded in the first two year ‘construction’ phase in the area include:

1. Middle Medway Strategy
2. Broomhill Sands Tidal Defense
3. Shoreham Adur Tidal Walls
4. Portsea Island

Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said: “The south coast saw terrible flooding last winter, so I have earmarked £300m of flood defense spending for vulnerable areas throughout Kent, Hampshire and Sussex.”

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “Flood protection is vital and under our plans Kent, Sussex and Hampshire will be better protected by 163 defense schemes across the region, including in Yalding, bringing peace of mind to residents and businesses.”

Environment Agency Chairman Sir Philip Dilley said: “Our priority is to do as much as we can with every pound of funding from government and local partners, we now expect to provide better flood protection to an additional 300,000 properties in England by the end of the decade. This first ever long-term investment program will protect over 60,000 properties in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex alone and save the national economy £2.7 billion by 2021. The lifetime benefits of this investment will be even higher at over £30bn. New schemes may also be added as the program progresses.”

Since the beginning of this parliament flood defense investment has improved protection to over 230,000 homes and over 580,000 acres of land. The new will protect at least another 300,000 homes in England by the end of the decade.

Press Release