Flood Control: Sherwood Forest
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the improvement of flood (a) defences and (b) resilience in Sherwood Forest constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy
Protecting communities around the country from flooding and coastal erosion is one of the new Secretary of State’s five core priorities.
This Government will improve resilience and preparation across central government, local authorities, local communities and emergency services to better protect communities across the UK. We will launch a new Flood Resilience Taskforce to turbocharge the delivery of new flood defences, drainage systems and natural flood management schemes.
The Environment Agency (EA) currently have no flood defences within the constituency except a section of flood bank in Lowdham.
The EA and partners are in the process of constructing a larger flood storage reservoir upstream of Lowdham to reduce the risk of flooding to 191 properties in the village. The scheme is projected to have £50 million in whole life benefits and to be delivered by early 2027.
The EA also carry out maintenance on parts of the River Leen, Bakerlane Brook, Cocker Beck and Dover Beck, and continue to monitor river levels, issuing flood warnings when required. The EA are working with partners to raise community awareness, plan for and respond to incidents, and support communities, alongside Local Authorities, in running Flood Warden schemes.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →