Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government (a) has taken and (b) proposes to take to reduce flooding from (i) the River Rother and (ii) the River Hipper.

The Environment Agency (EA) has taken a number of steps to reduce flooding from the River Rother and the River Hipper in Chesterfield. In partnership with Chesterfield Council the EA delivered two Property Level Protection projects in Brampton & Hollis Lane in 2016 and one in St Augustines Road last year. These have cost a total of £567,000 and protected a total of 93 properties. The EA has also delivered the St Augustines Road Flood Alleviation Study to investigate the use of sustainable drainage systems to manage surface water and other sources of flood risk affecting St Augustines Road. This cost £15,000 and was completed in 2017. Finally in 2019, the Homes & Communities Agency, in partnership with the EA, has delivered the Avenue Flood Balancing Reservoir, with the EA contributing £2.9 million. This is a flood storage reservoir designed to reduce flooding along the River Rother, better protecting 115 properties.

For ongoing work to reduce flooding in the future, a natural flood management (NFM) officer has been employed for two years using £69,000 of local levy funding to deliver NFM measures in the upper Rother Catchment, particularly benefitting Chesterfield and surrounding settlements. This proposal has been developed in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and the EA.