An extra £38 million for flood and coastal risk management was today
(Weds 17th Dec) announced by Environment Minister Jane Davidson as she
responded to a major report on the issue.

Speaking at the Senedd, Ms Davidson said:

I am delighted to announce that we have secured an additional £30m
of European funding to invest in flood and coastal erosion risk
measures across Wales. These additional funds will be awarded to
projects that support a broad approach to flood risk management,
including built defences, raising awareness and increasing resilience.

Through the Assembly Government’s strategic capital investment fund,
we have also allocated another £8m for flood and coastal risk
management activities. Taken together these represent an increase of
over 3 percent, the scale of which underlines our commitment to
addressing flood and coastal erosion risk in Wales.

The Minister revealed the extra funding whilst making her formal
response to the Pitt Review. The UK Government commissioned Sir Michael
Pitt to review the devastating floods in England in 2007. That report
was published in June 2008 and since then the Assembly Government has
been assessing the report’s appropriateness for Wales.

Some of the major findings of the report include:

• Current legislation is not fit for today’s challenges.
• More extensive mapping of flood risks must be undertaken.
• Awareness of flood risk must be raised within communities.
• Warning systems should be extended.

The findings are consistent with work already under way in Wales with the ‘New Approaches Programme’.

Ms Davidson added:

It is likely that the impact of climate change will mean Wales will
see increased flooding and we have to come to terms with this reality.
We can’t stop flooding, but we can attempt to alleviate its impact on
our communities.

Funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management in Wales has
more than doubled since 1999, allowing significant investment in our
defence infrastructure. We are determined to help communities across
Wales in the best way possible and the additional funding will help us
to do so.

The additional funding - which will be available over the next five
years - will supplement our current capital budgets of over £19million
which is used to support flood and coastal risk projects across Wales.