Calderdale approves £3m flood fund

The council funding will also look at how to improve the management of future flooding incidents

A £3m fund to invest in flood prevention and resilience schemes in Calderdale has been approved by councillors.

Almost 2,000 homes and more than 1,000 businesses in the area were affected by flooding over Christmas last year.

The new scheme is in addition to almost £10m awarded from central government to support flood recovery in the area.

The council funding will also be used to improve flood incident management systems.

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More than £60m has already been made available by the government for major flood defence schemes in the Calder Valley, which are currently being examined by the Environment Agency.

The council's scheme will look at how it can deliver other low cost flood prevention work and develop projects for natural flood management.

It will also offer support for businesses with hardship grants and in helping companies in making their properties more flood resilient.

The council also plans to hire additional staff to speed up grant processing for homeowners and to increase the size of the council's flood team.