Environment Secretary Hilary Benn committed an extra £200m a year to the Environment Agency after the floods in Hull and Sheffield in June. But the full increase, which will bring the Agency's annual budget to £800m a year, will not be paid immediately and instead will be phased in before 2011.
Council Leader Peter Jones said: "We welcome this much-needed increase in funding from Government but the full extra investment must happen without delay. Large parts of the country were devastated by floods in June and July and it is clear many cities and towns, including Lewes and Uckfield, do not have adequate defences because they are not considered a top priority.
"If the current system means that these towns are not properly protected, then funding must be increased now so that many more areas can be treated.
"I recognise that this year has been one of the worst in a century for flooding but the scientists are telling us that climate change could make these events more likely. By phasing in funding increases over the next four years, the Government could be exposing towns like Lewes and Uckfield to greater risk unnecessarily in the immediate future."
Businesses and homes in the two towns suffered millions of pounds of flood damage in during downpours in 2000. And this month, more heavy rain caused renewed chaos in East Sussex as students were evacuated from schools and shops were closed in Uckfield and Ringmer.
Defences were improved in Lewes in 2004 with construction of the £1.8m Malling Brooks Flood Alleviation Scheme but in Uckfield, a substantial protection scheme is yet to be installed.
Councillor Jones said: "As well as being too slow in coming, I also believe that the proposed £800m budget is not enough. The Environment Agency has called for around £1bn a year to bolster flood defences adequately, and I fully support them in this. In the meantime, I would urge residents and businesses who are worried about flooding to check if they are on a flood plain and, if so, to sign up for warnings."
For information on signing up to flood warnings and on checking and minimising the risk to your property, please see our page on Flooding – advice and information.
Notes to editors
In October 2006, the Lewes Integrated Urban Drainage Study Group was created to oversee the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) funded project to identify flooding problems within Lewes and to develop a strategy for a joined up approach to solving the identified problems. The group comprises East Sussex County Council, the Environment Agency, Lewes District Council and Southern Water.
The group has been very successful at working together and has developed an interconnection protocol to facilitate areas of cross responsibility. An initial outcome from the group has been a recognition of the usefulness of working together and a commitment to carry on even after the DEFRA project has been completed.
The group has identified all the known areas of flood problems.
For more information, please call Mike Taggart on 01273 482155.
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