I was shown around areas of Fareham which suffer from flooding, including areas in Portchester, Titchfield, and Wallington which have become notorious hot-spots for flooding. Commander Tony Norris, who has campaigned for more investment in flood defences in Fareham, kindly offered to give me a the tour of the areas where there is a risk of river and tidal flooding.
The primary risk in Fareham is from sea flooding with the two most significant locations where properties are at risk being Portchester and Wallington Village. In total, around 1300 dwellings are currently at significant flood risk - primarily from the sea, but also from the river and from surface water flooding.
The Environment Agency is working in partnership with Fareham Borough Council, Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council, to solutions to the issues with flooding in Fareham. There are currently two 6 year schemes, in Wallington Village and Portchester, designed to protect communities against flooding.
The Wallington project is an Environment Agency led scheme that aims to improve protection for 60 properties. The scheme aims to provide a 20% chance of river flooding occurring in any given year and a 1 in 200 year standard of protection from tidal flooding (0.5% chance of occurring in any given year). A full public drop in session to discuss the final proposal will be scheduled for August/September 2017, with construction of the scheme scheduled to begin in 2018, subject to funding.
Works for Portchester, which is being led by the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership on behalf of Fareham Borough Council and Portsmouth City Council, aim to reduce coastal flood risk between Portchester and Paulsgrove. There are currently 392 homes at risk from sea flooding in these communities, rising to 685 properties by the year 2115, due to predicted sea level rise.
The scheme includes planned improvements to 2.4km of ageing sea defences from Portchester Castle to Paulsgrove, and will cost over £9m. Feedback from public consultations held over the past year, has confirmed strong public support for the project. Construction of the improvements is currently planned to start in Spring 2019, and be completed by Autumn 2021.
I am very grateful to Commander Tony Norris for kindly offering to show me the areas most affected by flooding. I am keen to help reduce flood risk in our area, which causes terrible disruption to people’s lives. I have met with the Environment Agency to discuss their proposals, and I welcome the plans to improve the defences around Wallington and Portchester.