Over £156K has been raised through householders donating their surplus from their £5K Repair and Renew Grant. In some cases, people ‘donated’ the whole of their Grant towards catchment-wide flood mitigation measures, having considered that an integrated scheme would be better in the long-term. Applications are still being validated, so that figure could be considerably higher.
After discussions with DEFRA, both Newark and Sherwood District Council, who are administering the Grants, and Nottinghamshire County Council, the Lead Flood Authority, informed us that these ‘donations’ were able to be ‘banked’ and ring-fenced for town-wide mitigation until 2018.
This money was to be added to funds raised so far, to fulfil our community contribution of £125K. This would be incorporated in the partnership funding from central Government, Environment Agency and local Councils.
However, having been encouraged in our efforts by these authorities, we have recently learnt that due to ‘red tape’, this money collected via the Repair and Renew Grant has to be spent by September 2015.
This is completely impractical – no worthwhile scheme can be designed, tested, costed, tendered and implemented within that timescale. To hurry such an important project would be a recipe for disaster. It is vital that any community scheme is an integrated and well-planned design.
We are severely disappointed that we have been misled on this and we have lobbied at the highest level to plead our cause. But, despite George Osborne promising when he visited us last year that he would ensure Southwell would get what it needed, the politicians have let us down. We have today written an open letter to the Prime Minister to publicise our disappointment and frustration.
This money belongs to the community to protect itself, so if it cannot be used for community level schemes, we now urge the community to contact NSDC to reclaim their ‘donated’ element of the Grant. Time is of the essence, with an impending deadline of end September, so people will need to decide as quickly as possible how to best use it for their own property level protection and complete their application.
Newark and Sherwood District Council – 01636 650000 – Flood Grants Dept.
Quotes from residents
“I gave the surplus from my Repair and Renew Grant in good faith on the understanding that it would be used for town-wide mitigation for the future safety of Southwell.” Penny
“I’m shocked that, at this late stage the money has to be spent so quickly, which wasn’t the original intention of why I donated all the £5 entitlement. My insurance company paid for some protection measures which were installed at the same time as the repair work to my house, so I didn’t feel the need to spend the Grant on any extra PLP. I felt by giving my grant money I could do something to help the community, as I am unable to help in other ways such as clearing the watercourse.” Margaret
