Flood-prone areas to receive £45m for defences

Areas across the south of England affected by flooding are set to benefit from more than £45m to improve defences, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

Various projects including flood alleviation, coastal risk management and habitat creation will receive a share of a £750m national funding programme.

Among the beneficiaries, Portsmouth's Southsea Coastal Scheme is set to receive more than £10m for defences against sea flooding. Other alleviation schemes for Oxford, Windsor and Maidenhead have also received funding.

Floods minister Emma Hardy said the investment would help communities "feel safer in the face of increasingly extreme weather".

The investment covers the period from April 2026 to March 2029 and will fund more than 600 flood schemes across England.

The EA said that alongside investment in new schemes, £250m has also been made available nationally to repair and maintain flood defences damaged by Storms Goretti and Chandra earlier this year.

The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme will receive about £416,000 to create a new stream with a wetland wildlife corridor.

The scheme protects the city and surrounding areas, which suffer from recurrent floods.

The EA said: "The scheme will reduce flood risk to all properties in Oxford currently at risk of flooding from the River Thames, as well as to the railway, local roads, utilities and services such as broadband."

It said there would also be "additional environmental benefits", including creating over 20 hectares of valuable new wetland habitat which would link up existing wildlife sites, and about 16 hectares of floodplain meadow.

The EA said over its lifetime, the scheme would save more than £1.6bn by reducing flood damage and disruption.

Elsewhere the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme will receive funding, aiming to reduce flood risks in areas such as Datchet which have previously endured severe flooding.

On the Isle of Wight the Ventnor Coastal Defence scheme is working to modernise coastal defences on the south coast which has suffered from coastal erosion.

The Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defence Scheme is aimed at reducing tidal flood risk in Poole town centre, the Old Town and surrounding area.

Anna Burns, EA director for Thames area, said the agency was delivering "a wide range of projects, from traditional flood defences to natural flood management, to protect communities better now and into the future".

Hardy said the investment would protect properties and businesses, "while supporting jobs, growth and local resilience".

She added it was part of "a record national programme to strengthen flood defences, protect families and businesses, and help communities feel safer in the face of increasingly extreme weather".

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