Flooding and Coastal Change

RCAN members throughout the country have worked with local communities to assist them in dealing with the potential impact of flooding; this may be by assisting them in creating a Community Emergency Plan, assisting them in developing their village hall as an emergency refuge or through a scheme such as Village Agents. Take a look at the following pages to see how RCAN members are supporting communities to tackle flood risks.

In recent years we have seen flooding in many areas, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire were severely affected in 2007 and more recently other areas such as Cumbria have been affected. All areas of the country will continue to be affected by the consequences of a changing climate. According to the land use change statistics published by CLG, 9% of dwellings built in 2008 were located within areas of high flood risk and 6% of land changing to residential use was within an area of high flood risk. Defra state that “5.2 million properties are at risk of flooding. Of these, 1.4 million are at risk from rivers or the sea, 2.8 million are at risk from surface water and 1 million are at risk from both. There are also an estimated 200 homes at risk of complete loss to coastal erosion in the next 20 years. It is possible 2,000 more could become at risk over this period." For more information of this subject take a look at the Land and Environment section of the State of the Countryside report 2010. Individual householders can also find information and guidance on being prepared to deal with flooding in their area on the Environment Agency website.