MP Alex Cunningham has today praised the hard work of Stockton Councillors and Officers alongside the Environment Agency for never giving up on the work to win approval for a Flood Defence Grant in Aid Funding for a scheme at Lustrum Beck, which has flooded on countless occasions bringing misery to families in the area.
Labour’s Stockton North MP expressed his delight that, with funding from the Environment Agency coming on top of that already secured from the North East local levy, over £1.5 million will at long last allow detailed plans for the project to be finalised.
Preparations are now being made by Stockton Borough Council and the Environment Agency to begin a series of works this summer designed to defend properties along the Lustrum Beck corridor, providing protection to the most vulnerable residences that have flooded several times in the past three years.
Alex said:
“I was very pleased to be told that funding for works to provide robust and reliable flood defences in the Lustrum Beck area has finally been secured and that work to provide comprehensive protection for flood prone areas can now progress.
“I know that Stockton Borough Council councillors and officers have been highly committed in working with the Environment Agency to persevere and find a workable solution to allow this much needed scheme to go ahead. It is important that residents feel safe in their homes, and the new flood defences will ensure that this is a reality.
“I am delighted that the secured funding will provide a defence scheme that gives a greater level of protection than earlier proposals were able to offer, and hope that progress will now be speedy to deliver this crucial protection to residents as soon as possible.”
Stockton Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor David Rose, said: “We know how devastating flood damage is and want to do our utmost to ensure there is not a repeat of the Autumn 2012 floods in the Lustrum Beck area.
“We have worked tirelessly with the Environment Agency in recent years to find a way of securing funding to allow us to build the much needed flood defences so I’m delighted that this scheme is now set to progress.”
