The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2020 - Issue 66 | Page 15

FARM NEWS 15
• DEC/JAN 2020
Government announces grants to help
protect properties from flooding
FLOOD-HIT homes and busi-
nesses will be able to receive up
to £5,000 to help protect them
from future flooding.
The government has
announced that flood-hit
homes and businesses will be
able to receive up to £5,000 to
help protect them from future
flooding.
The grants, which will be made
available through local authori-
ties from the end of November
onwards, will help homes and
businesses to become more
resilient to flooding by helping
to pay for a range of property
improvements. The funding will
go towards the additional costs
of installing fittings and mate-
rials that increase resistance
to damage from water in the
future, such as putting in flood
doors and raising electrics off
ground level.
The grants will be open to
homes and businesses that
have been seriously affected by
flooding this autumn, including
communities in South Yorkshire
some of which experienced
a month’s worth of rain in a
single day during the week of 4
November.
This additional funding comes
as Environment Agency teams
continue to work across the
country to reduce flood risk
and to ensure that it is safe for
people to move back into their
homes.
This additional support for
homes and businesses comes
on top of grants worth up to
Winning projects
announced to
tackle key pests
and diseases
A new diagnostic test to
identify an emerging pest
threat in the UK is one of
five new research pro-
jects awarded by AHDB
Horticulture in partner-
ship with BBSRC.
The brown mar-
morated stink bug is
native to Asia but has
been confirmed in
south east England. It
can cause significant
damage to a range of
plants including soft
fruit, ornamentals, field
vegetables and tree fruit.
Researchers hope to
develop a rapid DNA-
based identification tool,
as it can easily be mis-
taken for the UK-native
shield bug.
The project is one of
five successful research
programmes that will
tackle high priority pests
and diseases thanks to a
Brown marmorated stink
bug, (c) Tim Haye, CABI.
new £250,000 initiative
from Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences
Research Council
(BBSRC), part of UK
Research and Innovation
(UKRI), and AHDB.
The other winning
projects include research
to develop pheromone
traps to help control and
monitor Nesidiocoris
tenuis, a pest that can
damage tomato crops, as
well as developing new
and improved methods
to isolate pheromones
from horticultural
thrips.
In addition, there will
be an evaluation to see
whether a diagnostic test
for Fusarium basal rot in
bulb onions is effective
prior to planting, as well
as a project to develop
a new resource in
genomics to improve the
understanding of downy
mildew.
The five projects will
run until March 2020 and
the results will be shared
with the industry when
available.
The winning projects
were agreed by a panel
of experts from across
the horticultural industry
and academic commu-
nity and were awarded
based on robust criteria
including scientific
quality and the potential
to deliver a significant
positive impact to hor-
ticultural growers and
businesses.
£25,000 which will be made
available to flood-hit farmers in
northern England.
On Friday, 8 November, the
government also activated the
emergency Bellwin scheme.
Under the scheme, local authori-
ties dealing with the flooding
can apply to have 100% of their
eligible costs, above a threshold,
reimbursed by the Government.
Further support for homes and
businesses was also announced
on 15 November through imme-
diate council tax and business
rate relief for affected homes
and businesses.
On 12 November 2019, the gov-
ernment opened a Community
Recovery Grant to support local
councils with their efforts to get
households on their feet, and
a Business Recovery Grant for
eligible small and medium-sized
businesses.
“The Next
Government Must
Deliver Change” Says
Flooding Expert
EXTREME weather and
rising sea levels with
resulting flooding are
becoming a yearly
occurrence across the
United Kingdom but what
is being done to prevent
it? Simeon Disley, partner
at Roythornes Solicitors
and head of the firm’s
water and flood manage-
ment team, explains that
proactive steps must be
taken.
To have your home or
farm flooded can be soul
destroying and financially
disastrous. Sadly, the
residents of Wainfleet and
Fishlake have joined those
of Boston, the Somerset
Levels and others in having
this dreadful experience.
These recent events
together with the predic-
tions for climate change
suggest we can expect
more extreme weather
and rising sea levels to
result in flooding.
Next month we should
see a new government
take shape and it should
reassess the arrangements
for the country’s flood
defence management.
The Environment Agency
should be tasked with
focusing its experience
and skills on the protec-
tion of towns and cities.
Responsibility for rural
areas should be passed
to further empowered
Internal Drainage Boards
and other local bodies
who should be allowed
the resources they need
to protect those areas in
partnership with the land-
owners and farmers.
Drainage rates should
apply to all rural land
and Drainage Boards
should be allowed to
increase their rates to
cover the costs they
will incur in meeting the
challenges that lie ahead.
Environmental protection
regulations should also be
reviewed and reassessed
to strike the right balance
between protecting the
environment and those
who live in it.
Common sense must
prevail. Rivers and drains
should be dredged and
maintained to enable
them to cope with the
volume of water in
extreme conditions and
sea defences should be
improved against the
predicted rise in sea
levels.
The next government
must deliver the changes
that are required to
protect the country’s
homes and businesses.
www.roythornes.co.uk