Help for those affected by recent flooding
More than 450 businesses and households affected by the November 2019 and February 2020 floods are able to get help to pay for flood mitigation measures.
Derbyshire County Council are set to administer a scheme that gives eligible properties a £5,000 grant to put in measures to help stop properties being flooded in the future. These could be flood doors, sealing brick work and external walls, replacing airbricks with flood airbricks, flood barriers and moving electrical sockets up the wall.
£500 of every grant will need to be spent on a specialist survey, which will ensure that the right mitigation measures are recommended and installed.
Around 300 businesses and households were affected by the floods in November 2019, which were in South Derbyshire, Derbyshire Dales, Chesterfield and Amber Valley. The February 2020 floods hit 160 properties in Derbyshire Dales, Erewash and South Derbyshire.
Derbyshire County Council will write to all those eligible for the grant, and claims for those who flooded in November 2019 will need to be submitted by the end of October, with work carried out by February 2021.
The deadlines for applications for those affected by the February 2020 floods and not yet known.
Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, Councillor Simon Spencer, said:”This money will help businesses and householders put in some simple but effective flood mitigation measures that will help should the floods take place again.”
“The council will administer the scheme, process all applications and sort out a specialist survey, which will make sure that the right measures are recommended for each particular property. Surveyors will also check that the work gets completed to a good standard.”
“We saw a high number of properties flooded in many parts of the county, both in November 2019 and February this year, and I am sure that this money will help should we face similar circumstances again.”
Derbyshire County Council will use the services of specialist surveyors who are already used by the Environment Agency.
