Green MP urges government funding for trailblazing flood management project

Adrian Ramsay, Green MP for Waveney Valley and Green Party Co-Leader, has called a flood management project in his constituency a national trailblazer and urged the Government to maintain its support for the Waveney and Little Ouse Recovery project, in order to protect nature and alleviate the risk of flooding in towns in his constituency.

Adrian Ramsay has written to the Minister of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Daniel Zeichner, following a visit by the minister to the area earlier this year. The Waveney Valley MP said Defra support was vital to the success of the project which is run by Suffolk Wildlife Trust working with the Environment Agency, local farmers and landowners. 

Defra’s support for the initial phase of the project, funded through the Landscape Recovery pilot programme, had enabled the Trust and its partners to build a financial model to pay for the delivery of nature-based solutions to the challenges brought about by climate change.

Adrian Ramsay said the cost-benefits of the Waveney and Little Ouse Recovery Project were clear and had huge potential to avert flooding in vulnerable local communities - a growing problem locally.

He said: “The project has the capacity to protect the market towns of Diss and Bungay in my constituency as well as nearby towns such as Beccles and Thetford which are also vulnerable to flooding. The financial savings would be substantial, not to mention the benefit to local residents whose homes were kept safe from flooding.”

He said the project also provided an important template for how private investors could help the UK achieve its net zero and nature recovery targets by supplementing public funding for environmental delivery.

The project is reaching the end of its development phase and Suffolk Wildlife Trust wants an extension of Defra’s support to cover upfront investment and ongoing maintenance costs. It is seeking private investment to match any funds from Defra and hopes that the income from the sale of ecosystem services will pay for the project in the long term. 

Ramsay added: “I hope that Defra will support this and other nature recovery projects by providing adequate funding. I know this project offers good value for money and will also provide many additional benefits for nature restoration and tackling climate change.”