Billions-of-pounds of investment is needed to prevent ‘catastrophic flooding’ of the Fens, councillors have said.
Cambridgeshire County Council passed a motion at its full council meeting on July 15 calling on the government to recognise the importance of funding flood prevention work in the Fens.
The motion was put forward by Councillor Ros Hathorn (Liberal Democrat), who said flood defences in the area were coming to the end of their working lives.
She said this alongside the impact of climate change represented a “significant threat to the future of Cambridgeshire as we know it today”.
Cllr Hathorn added that “when the pumps stop, Cambridgeshire will quite quickly begin to flood again”.
She highlighted the Fens 2100+ project being led by the Environment Agency to manage flood risk and develop a plan for the Fens over the next 100 years.
Cllr Hathorn said over the next 100 years investment of £4.5billion is needed for flood prevention and water management in the Fens, but that under current rules only half of this could be funded.
She said councillors and councils in the area needed to come together to argue for better funding for flood infrastructure and to bridge the £2.25billion funding gap.
However, some councillors raised concerns about the mention in the motion of re-wetting the Fens.
The motion said: “Re-wetting the Fens has a history of being politically weaponised but in reality without finding a source for that missing £2.25billion, plus more for climate change impacts, our flood defences will begin to fail in the coming decades.”
Councillor Ross Martin (Conservative) said he disagreed the re-wetting of the Fens had been “highly politicised” and said it was about people’s livelihoods.
He also said he was concerned if the county council was being asked to sign up to promote the 2100+ project without more clarity about what the project will end up looking like.
Cllr Martin recognised there was a “real growing risk” of flooding and said there needs to be “sustained investment to protect the unique landscape Cambridgeshire has”.
He said he supported the principle of the motion, but wanted more information about what the project would actually entail, before agreeing to support it.
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Councillor Steve Tierney (Conservative) said he would never support the re-wetting of the Fens.
However, Councillor Lorna Dupré (Liberal Democrat), deputy leader of the county council, highlighted that the motion was not calling for re-wetting of the Fens.
She said: “The point it does make is that without flood prevention investment many of our homes, farms and infrastructure will end up being re-wetted catastrophically.”
Cllr Dupré said it was important they continued to press for investment that the area “desperately needs”.
She said the choice was either to push for the government for investment to give the Environment Agency time to do the work needed to protect the area, or to do nothing and “face the potential external threat to many communities and their way of life”.
Councillor Michael Fisher (Reform UK) said water management and flooding was an issue ‘close to his heart’, however he said he needed “greater clarity on what exactly this motion aspires to achieve”.
He said he agreed the risk of flooding in the area was “serious”, but argued the focus should not be on statements around climate change, but on the “historic underinvestment and mismanagement” of the infrastructure.
Cllr Fisher said the county council’s priority should be to call for “putting boots and mechanisms on the ground” to address the “years of neglect”, rather than “wasting taxpayers’ cash on more quangos, surveys and reports”.
Councillor Peter Rees (Green Party) said the motion and the 2100+ project focused on 100 years time, which he said was a “long time away”.
Cllr Rees said the climate crisis was not something that was 100 years away, but was something that was “in the here and now”, adding that they needed to recognise the “urgency” of taking action.
Councillor Graham Wilson (Liberal Democrat) said the 2100+ project was looking at both what needs to be done in the near term and the long term.
Councillor David Keane (Conservative) said Fens were an “essential part of Cambridgeshire”.
He said without sustained investment and wider management the risk of flooding was “real”.
He recognised the discussion of re-wetting the Fens was “emotive and complex”, but said the “message was clear” that they could either choose to “manage the shape and future of the Fens”, or the climate would do it for them.
Councillor Alex Bulat (Labour) said flooding was one of the most common issues raised with her by people in the area.
She said they needed to “push together for further funding” for the flood prevention work needed.
A majority of councillors voted to pass the motion. The county council’s chief executive will be asked to write to the Secretary of State for the Environment to “express the importance of climate change and flood prevention funding for the Fens across the next 100 years”.
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