Newbury flood scheme gets deadline extension
The £1.56 million alleviation scheme is likely to go ahead, says project manager
A SCHEME to protect hundreds of homes and business around Newbury town centre from the catastrophic effects of flooding looks to have been given an 11th hour reprieve.
The deadline for the Newbury Flood Alleviation Scheme cash to be secured sailed past as businesses in the town ignored a plea from the Environment Agency and West Berkshire Council to make up a £110,000 shortfall in funding of the £1.56 million project by December 23.
But by the time the deadline came around the project was still £20,000 short, even though Greenham Common Trust pledged to match funding up to £30,000, and a last-minute extension until January 20 has now been granted by West Berkshire Council to find the money.
The Environment Agency believes it now has the funding in place to improve flood defences and potentially save the town millions of pounds, as well as lives.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the project manager of the scheme, Tony Kirstein, said that an unnamed group of people had come forward and while details were currently being kept under wraps the Environment Agency would soon reveal where the money had been found.
“We are just waiting on some written confirmation but we think we have got there. We have had certain assurances, and will be making an announcement in January,” he said.
“We are extremely positive.”
The need for urgency was driven by the time sensitive nature of the £1.2 million central Government grant which would make up the majority of the funding for the scheme, designed to save the town millions of pounds in the event of severe flooding, similar to the 2007 floods which crippled much of Newbury and West Berkshire.
Although the £1.56 million scheme was first unveiled in June, at a November meeting in Shaw House, in which 180 businesses were invited but only four attended, the Environment Agency revealed that due to scaled back commitments from Defra, plus the loss of British Waterways, it was £110,000 short of the amount needed to trigger the government grant.
West Berkshire Council had already committed £180,000, and with Newbury Town Council offering £45,000, Sovereign Housing £20,000, and following donations from the Newbury Weekly News and A-Plan Insurance, the district council sent three letters out to local businesses asking to pitch in.
The initial response provoked fury from traders with the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce stating that many of its members were becoming angry at being asked to contribute in the current economic climate.
Standard Life Investments (SLI), the backers of Parkway, which sits directly in the middle of the area expected to be worst hit should flooding occur, also refused to donate.
A spokeswoman for SLI, Christina Gillings, said: “In delivering Parkway, we have already taken extensive measures to minimise risk to the centre and its retailers.”
The plans include the raising of the towpath near Russell Road, improved drainage and pumping facilities near Northcroft Park, a low embankment near Bewicks Reach, raised water walls near Northcroft Lane and other improvements around Victoria park, Ampere Road and London Road.
