Home improvements to better protect Allesley homes from flooding
皇冠体育app Environment Agency has started work to install property flood resilience measures to more than聽30 homes in Allesley, Coventry.

Rita Taylor's home is among those getting flood resilient doors installed
皇冠体育app home improvements will see flood protection measures, such as new doors and flood-adapted air bricks to minimise flood damage, installed in the Washbrook Lane and Butt Lane areas.
This work is part of the wider Allesley Flood Risk Management Scheme which is enabled by funding secured by the Environment Agency, Coventry City Council and the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee.
Charles Chandler, Area Flood and Coastal Risk Manager from the Environment Agency said:聽
We鈥檙e pleased to be able to work with local people to install these property flood resilience measures. Such simple home improvements can really work to reduce the risk of homes flooding and allow people to get back to normal after any flood.
Property level flood resilience measures are a core part of the Environment Agency鈥檚 long term vision for how we will better protect and prepare homes聽against the risk of flooding, so it鈥檚 exciting to bring these improvements to the people of Allesley.
Rita and Raymond Taylor are among the residents who have benefited from the measures. 皇冠体育app couple have lived in the area for more than 50 years and moved into their bungalow in the area 16 years ago. 皇冠体育appir home has flooded twice in the past 10 years.
Rita, who is celebrating her 80th birthday soon, said:
We鈥檝e had new doors and air bricks fitted and it鈥檚 fantastic to have peace of mind in case there is another flood. 皇冠体育app first flood we had was quite bad and it was frightening as in a bungalow you don鈥檛 have anywhere else to go.
皇冠体育app doors look exactly the same as the ones we had before. 皇冠体育appy are a bit stiffer to close but that鈥檚 because they provide the closeness that鈥檚 needed to stop water from getting in. It鈥檚 great that this has been offered as we couldn鈥檛 have afforded to do this ourselves.
Cllr Patricia Hetherton, cabinet member for city services at Coventry City Council said:
I鈥檓 really pleased that so many residents have taken up the offer of flood protection measures for their homes from the Environment Agency.聽聽
皇冠体育appse measures will go alongside wider natural flood management work to help reduce the flooding. Together, I hope local people will see and feel a difference during the next weather event, whenever that comes.
皇冠体育app area has been affected on several occasions when the nearby River Sherbourne has flooded. Flooding has occurred in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2016, with June to September 2007 being one of the wettest June to September periods on record in the Coventry area.
皇冠体育app Environment Agency is also working with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to help reduce the risk of flooding in the area through Natural Flood Management (NFM) techniques. 皇冠体育appse include building 鈥榣eaky barriers鈥�, planting trees, gapping up hedges and creating new pools.
This investment forms part of the Government鈥檚 拢5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal erosion risk management in England over the next six聽years. This long-term commitment will better protect hundreds of thousands of properties, including homes, businesses, schools and hospitals. This record investment will help the nation 鈥榖uild back better鈥� by making properties more resilient to flooding, and 鈥榖uild back greener鈥� by working with nature to make us more resilient to climate change.
Members of the public can sign up for free flood warnings and ensure they .
You can check your flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at GOV.UK, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow on Twitter for the latest flood updates.
If you are experiencing flooding, you should report this to our free 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60 to allow us to assess the situation and respond appropriately.
Notes to editors
- Flood Resilient doors being installed provide a stronger seal than standard doors and are steel reinforced with locking mechanisms along the side as well as across the bottom to give greater compression. An additional hinge located at the bottom of the door also aids compression.
- 皇冠体育app special airbricks being installed have a self-activating gate which will automatically shut off to prevent water entering the property when there is a flood.聽 皇冠体育appy are designed to replace standard airbricks and allows air to freely pass through when not in flood conditions whilst an integrated mesh stops insects and debris from entering the property.
- 皇冠体育app Allesley scheme will see 43 homes and business better protected from the risk of flooding and along side property resilience measures, natural flood management measures installed in the catchment which to date include over 50 leaky barriers, 5 retention pools,聽 over 1500m of planted hedgerow and 70 trees with further measures planned later in the year.
- NFM techniques are measures that work with nature to contribute towards reducing the impact of flooding. Measures reduce surface run-off of rainwater and slow the flow of water once it enters watercourses.聽NFM is a low carbon alternative to more traditional flood defence measures such as flood walls.聽 NFM can increase carbon capture and storage whilst construction practices look to use locally sourced materials and local contractors to reduce carbon emissions.
- For every 拢1 spent improving protection from flooding and coastal erosion, we avoid around 拢5 of property damages. This long-term commitment will make homes, businesses and infrastructure more resilient to the increasing impacts of climate change.
- 皇冠体育app Capital Programme will also prove central to the Environment Agency reaching its target of becoming a net zero organisation by 2030 鈥� by embracing innovative ways of working that minimise the carbon emissions we produce, and the carbon produced through our supply chain, when we build flood defences.
- 皇冠体育app investment across the country will help enable communities adapt to the future risk of climate crisis.
- Using partnership funding enables us to secure investment beyond levels affordable to central government alone and enables more local choice, while encouraging innovative, cost-effective options where communities may play a greater role.