Westmorland and Furness Council has welcomed government funding to help protect two areas which have repeatedly flooded in recent years.
A flood alleviation project for Lindale Road in Grange has received £800,000, while the North Road Surface Water Flood Alleviation scheme in Holme, near Burton-in-Kendal, has been granted £301,000.
The money has come from the government’s Frequently Flooded Allowance, with the first 53 projects worth a total of £26 million announced last week.
The allowance targets communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the last 10 years. These communities are often smaller and can face barriers to access funding due to the relative complexity and cost of building flood defences compared to the size of the community.
Angela Jones, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Director of Thriving Places, said: “Flooding is a misery which has been visited on many communities in Westmorland and Furness in recent years.
“This money will support our work taking effective action to protect residents in these two areas from flooding and we look forward to giving reassurance and peace of mind by completing these projects as soon as possible.”
The funding for Grange will add to support from the Department of Transport, Defra and the former South Lakeland District Council and enable phase three of a project to protect 17 properties in the Lindale Road/Windermere Road to be completed.
This area has had flooding recorded back to 1928 due to surface water from the surrounding steep catchment disappearing into the ground, flowing subterraneously. During intense or long duration storms, water fills drainage channels, surcharges from the rock and emerges from the ground in gardens alongside Windermere Road/Lindale Road, entering basements of properties, and also running down the road itself, ponding in the car park at the bottom of Lindale Road.
Phases 1 and 2 saw natural flood management of the upstream catchment with the introduction of a bund to store and slow the flow of water, and improvements to existing drainage infrastructure in and around the car park.
Phase three will see a new pumping station and associated infrastructure constructed, a rising main and adaptations to an outlet from the pond in the nearby ornamental gardens.
A sum of £301,000 has been granted to the ongoing North Road Surface Water Flood Alleviation scheme in Holme, which is seeing a new drainage system being installed from Hillside to North Road.
Flooding had been recorded in North Road in 2011, and then during Storm Desmond in 2015 and more frequently after that.
More details from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Environment Agency can be found here:
