Lots done, but plenty of flood work still to do

Calderdale Council leader Tim Swift said community, council and partner organisations had worked hard to ensure the borough bounced back: “A great deal of hard work has gone into recovering and strengthening defences against future flooding, but there is still work to do. We will continue to work with local people and other organisations to do all we can to reduce the risks and impacts of future flooding.”

Helen Batt, Calder catchment director for the Environment Agency, said together they were delivering the Calderdale Flood Action Plan. “Just last month we got the go-ahead for six more projects to help reduce the risk of flooding across Calderdale, and we will continue to develop the flood alleviation scheme for Brighouse.

“The Flood Action Plan encompasses a broad range of community and partner led projects, and we will continue to support the great work of local organisations and volunteers, to use local knowledge and expertise to deliver projects on the ground.”

Key progress made since December 2015 includes: £56 million spent on flood recovery and defence, including infrastructure repairs, home and business grants and flood risk reduction schemes; projects completed at 200 locations by 1,500 volunteers; flood resilience grants approved for 1,354 homes and 590 businesses totalling £8.9 million; two major flood exercises; 33 major flood recovery projects and thousands of smaller jobs carried out by the council including repairing bridges, landslip sites, road surfacing, underwater inspections and bridge risk assessments; £22 million spent of £25 million awarded by the Department for Transport for repairs to damaged roads and bridges, including 41km of carriageway and 15 bridges; a £9 million recovery programme being carried out by the Environment Agency; 32 Flood Action Plan actions completed; and £3.16 million raised for flood relief by the Community Foundation for Calderdale.

In 2018 completion of construction at Park Road, Elland, concluding the first phase of flood risk reduction schemes (FRRS 1), and development of the outline business case for Brighouse to further appraise options are on the agenda.