Asked by: Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the Inspecting Engineers recommendations relating to vegetation management on the Mill Leese embankment, made in the section 10 report, and section 12 statement, as set out in the Reservoirs Act 1975, following their most recent inspection of the Mill Leese Flood Storage Area at Saltwood in Kent.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In accordance with Reservoirs Act 1975 (Capacity, Registration, Prescribed Forms, etc) (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1677) and subsequent guidance produced by the UK Reservoir Safety Liaison Group (the National Protocol for the Handling, Transmission and Storage of Reservoir Information and Flood Maps), we are unable to publish the full content of the section 10 report and section 12 statement. I recognise the level of local interest in this matter, and the Environment Agency (EA) will disclose information regarding the planned works that it considers will be of benefit to interested members of the public.
The EA has heard from the community that redacted documents are unhelpful and do not contribute to building trust and cooperation. The EA will be visiting the site in mid-September and intends to openly communicate the legally required work proposed for the site.
Asked by: Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the value of the investment by the Environment Agency in flood defences in Folkestone and Hythe constituency has been from May 2010 to date; and how much has been budgeted for further future works by that agency in that constituency.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The table below details the value of the investment by the Environment Agency in flood defences in Folkestone and Hythe constituency from May 2010 to date:
Scheme location | Outline of works | Approximate cost | Time scale |
Hythe to Folkestone | Shepway District Council manage the beach frontage and maintain shingle defences | £950,000.
| May 2010 to present and for the next 5 years. |
Dymchurch | 2.2km new defences at Dymchurch | £60,000,000 | Completed in 2011 |
Combined Hythe and Horn Street Modelling | Detailed modelling of the Hythe Streams area in conjunction with Kent County Council | Approximately £45,000
| Commenced in November 2014 and due to be completed in 2015-16. |
Mill Leese Flood Storage Reservoir | Major improvements and refurbishment of embankment and control structure | £1,700,000 | Completed in 2012. |
Greatstone | A rock groyne constructed on the beach at Greatstone to hold material that drifts along the beach from Littlestone | £298,000 | Summer 2014. |
Greatstone | Maintenance of the Sand Dunes | £75,000 | Since 2010. |
Littlestone | Beach Recharge | £1,300,000 | Due to complete by April 2015. |
Seabrook | Outfall Improvements | £120,000 | Summer 2014. |
On 2 December 2014, the Government published its programme of capital flood and coastal erosion risk management improvement works for the coming six years, up to 2021. This includes indicative allocations to the following schemes in the Folkestone and Hythe constituency:
Scheme | Allocation |
Hythe Ranges | £21,000,000 |
Lydd Ranges | £40,000,000 |
Romney Sands Coastal Defences | £1,400,000 |
Denge Secondary Defence | £2,050,000 |
Denge Beach Management | £3,000,000 |
TOTAL | £67,450,000 |
NB. The two Denge projects cross the constituency boundary.