Extra cash needed to build Gosport flood defences, admits Environment Agency

It was previously reported that Gosport Borough Council is struggling to fund the two projects in Alverstoke and Forton.

The proposed schemes would reduce flood risk to 341 properties over the next 50 years from a one-in-100-year weather event.

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Councillor Peter Chegwyn, leader of Gosport Borough Council said there’s an £800,000 shortfall in funding and ‘the Environment Agency has to find that money because we don’t have it’.

‘As of yet we’ve heard nothing from them, there are negotiations going on,’ he added.

‘In fairness, every scheme in the country is over budget because of inflation and particularly in civil engineering – it’s rampant in the construction industry.

‘So they’re faced with massive extra bills, demands for money on every scheme like this across the entire country and we all know the government is not flush with money.

‘Unless they agree to the £800,000 which is actually probably nearer to a million because every day it’s delayed the cost goes up.’

In August last year, several risks surfaced during the construction of both schemes including the discovery of high voltage electricity cables and a badger setts which paused both projects.

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Cllr Chegwyn added: ‘The money that was set aside has pretty much already been spent with nothing much happening on site. There does need to be an investigation into where the money already allocated has gone given that construction has hardly started.

‘We’re talking about a sum, over the two schemes, which is over £1.5m.

‘We want to know through Coastal Partners who is in charge of the scheme – we want a breakdown of where that £1.5m has gone.

‘I know they said there are badgers on one site and pipes on another but that doesn’t explain where the money has gone.’

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: ‘We have supported Gosport Borough Council and the Coastal Partners on the Alverstoke and Forton schemes for a number of years, including securing central government funding for the projects.

‘Unfortunately, as the costs have escalated, there is now a need to secure sources of funding and we continue to work in partnership with the council in doing this.’