Bristol needs an extra £81 million to pay for defences on the river Avon protecting the city from the “humongous threats” of floods and rising sea levels. Plans for new flood defences on the Avon are currently being drawn up but council chiefs say more cash is needed.
At the moment a severe flood from the Avon could see 1,300 homes and businesses flooded, with this risk expected to grow from climate change. Thousands of new homes are also planned for areas at risk of flooding, like St Phillip’s Marsh and the Western Harbour.
Bristol City Council is working with the Environment Agency and the West of England combined authority on plans for defences along the river Avon. Over the next decade the defences could cost £216 million, but council chiefs still need to find a third of that money.
Read more: Applying for social housing in Bristol to be made clearer under new plans
Councillor Nicola Beech, cabinet member for strategic planning, resilience and floods, said: “We’re working together to get the funding needed to protect Bristol from rising sea levels and future flood events. With all our funding sources together, that still leaves a gap of £81 million. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. This is proper long-term business planning and resilience for the city. I’m absolutely confident we’ll get there.
“But while we’re challenging ourselves about our day-to-day budget, we have these humongous threats to our city that we must protect ourselves from. So it’s a callout to anyone who’ll listen and the government to say we’ll continue to grow our city and meet our challenges, but this also needs to be funded.”
She made the comments during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (October 4), which heard that the scheme currently has allocated £69 million from central government funding for flood defences, £10 million from the council’s economic development fund, £20 million from community infrastructure levies, and £10 million from the council’s reserves. Talks are ongoing with the West of England combined authority about sourcing extra money.
Cllr Kye Dudd, cabinet member for climate, said: “It’s vitally important we make progress on this because the risk is going up because of climate change. If we did nothing, the number of properties that would be affected by the risk of flooding would more than double by the end of the century. There’s a lot of benefits from building flood defences, like the housing that we could potentially get out of it, spaces for nature, and opportunities for cycling routes.”
