In an announcement welcomed by Lincoln MP, Karl, the Conservative Government has announced this week that it is providing City of Lincoln and North Kesteven Councils with £141,926 and £239,690 respectively to support the increased energy costs of maintaining anti-flooding measures in and around the City of Lincoln.
A number of local councils across England, have been severely impacted by the increase in levies from Internal Drainage Boards, who are responsible for the maintenance of rivers and drainage channels, especially in flood risk areas.
This increase is being driven by the unprecedented rise in energy costs that impact particularly energy-intensive services including Internal Drainage Boards. As this has been an exceptional year for the rise in energy costs, the Government has made these one-off payments to help ease this additional financial burden on local councils.
The Government has been investing in Lincoln’s flood defences more widely recently, including:
- strengthening riverside walls along Lincoln’s Foss Bank
- refurbishing Stamp End Sluice and the defences at Sincil Dyke next to Lincoln City Football Club
- 500 metres of new steel piles in the River Witham between Dixon Street and Altham Terrace.
This formed part of a recent £6 million investment in the City’s flood defences to maintain the existing standard of flood-risk protection for around 4,000 homes and businesses in Lincoln.
Karl McCartney MP, whose Lincoln constituency also covers Skellingthorpe, Bracebridge Heath and Waddington East, said: “I have been asking the Conservative Government to support our Local Councils with the increased costs of keeping our area safe from flooding, so I am pleased they have listened by providing this extra funding. As a former member of various Internal Drainage Boards that serve Lincoln, I am well aware of the important service they provide, but also recognise it is not ‘free’.
“The Conservative Government takes seriously the flood risks to Lincoln and the neighbouring areas which is why there has been substantial and welcome investment over the past number of years. I have given my full support to these measures as have my conservative colleagues across Greater Lincolnshire.”
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