Team Van Oord has welcomed the findings of a report which urges the Government to invest in the upkeep of existing critical flood defenses, as well as investing in new defenses.
Published on 9 June, the Environmental Audit Committee report criticizes a ‘reactive approach to funding’ for flood defenses which it says exposes the Government’s lack of long-term strategic planning to manage flood risk.
The report also found that the condition of critical flood defences is in decline, citing the independent Worsfold review which reviewed the maintenance of the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets.
The committee says that as the funding for critical flood defenses was cut, the number of defenses which met the Environment Agency’s required condition also declined.
Maurits den Broeder, Chairman of Team Van Oord , said: “Long-term strategic planning is essential when it comes to reducing flood risk, and we support the Environmental Audit Committee’s call for more to be spent on keeping existing flood defenses up to the required standard.
“We also believe that all critical flood defense assets should meet the Environment Agency’s required condition by 2019. People living in parts of the country that are at risk of flooding need to know that the Government is doing all it can to mitigate against the devastation that flood water can cause.”
The report was commissioned to inform the Government’s National Flood Resilience Review – set up in the wake of last winter’s flooding across the UK.