Trust steps in to plug flooding funding shortfall

Greenham Common Trust has agreed to match fund up to £30,000 to help protect homes and businesses in Newbury from flooding

GREENHAM Common Trust is to help plug a funding shortfall to protect Newbury's homes and businesses from flooding.

The trust has agreed to match fund up to £30,000 towards Environment Agency flood alleviation measures, which will help West Berkshire Council find a £90,000 funding shortfall needed to generate a time sensitive £1.2m grant from central Goverment.

The money must be committed by the end of December, otherwise the funding will disappear and the scheme will sink.

As previously reported by Newburytoday.co.uk, the funding shortfall was a result of local businesses' apathy to support the scheme, with only four out of 180 invited businesses attending a recent meeting on the flood scheme.

So far, West Berkshire Council has committed £180,000 towards the £1.535m scheme, with Newbury Town Council committing a further £45,000 and Sovereign Housing an extra £20,000 - leaving a funding shortfall of about £90,000.

Greenham Common Trust has agreed to help generate the rest of the required funding via its online grant system: www.findmeagrant.org, which can be accessed by clicking the link below.

This means that if local businesses donate £30,000, the Trust will match it and administer Gift Aid, raising a total of £67,500.

The Trust's chief executive, Stuart Tagg, said: “Flooding can be devastating for the local community on a personal level as well as extremely bad news for the local economy, through ruined businesses and wrecked homes.

“It is important that the community takes some degree of responsibility for their safety and security and that it why the Trust is prepared to play its fair part and agree to match contributions for the flood alleviation measures up to £30,000.”

As a result, West Berkshire Council has now said it will reduce the minimum amount it is asking local smaller businesses to contribute from £500 to £300 each, urging larger businesses to contribute more.

West Berkshire Council's executive member for community safety, Anthony Stansfeld (Con, Kintbury) said: “We are delighted that the Greenham Common Trust has offered to match contributions by Newbury businesses up to £30,000.

“If businesses do come up with a contribution to the flood scheme, which is greatly to their advantage, then with this matched funding we will be well on our way to have raised the necessary money required by central Government to let this scheme go forward and provide a lasting safeguard against flooding in Newbury for several generations.”

The scheme is designed to protect areas of Newbury with a one per cent chance of flooding the river and canal in any year, with the work involving the raising of towpaths around Russell Road and London Road, low walls in Victoria Park, Swan Court and Northcroft Lane and improved drainage at Northcroft Park.

For businesses wishing to donate to the appeal, the application can be found on www.findmeagrant.org called ‘Newbury Flood Alleviation Scheme'.