Flooding Hardship Fund Now Open To Provide Emergency Payments To Residents And Business
Local residents and businesses hit by recent flooding including the torrential downpours on Saturday 8 July and during June, can now apply for emergency financial help from a hardship fund set up by Derbyshire County Council.
The county council has set up the scheme to offer one-off grants of £150 for local households and £500 for businesses employing up to 50 people.
In total, up to £20,000 of financial support is available for eligible households and businesses in Derbyshire affected by the recent surface water flash flooding.
Initial feedback shows that a number of towns experienced recent flash flooding including Matlock, Cromford, Ripley, Killamarsh, Dronfield, parts of Chesterfield, and in Swadlincote last month.
The emergency payments aim to help cover the loss of any immediate, short-term loss of income and cashflow difficulties and to help pay for repairs and replacement of items until insurance claims are settled.
Further details about how to apply for the emergency grants are available on the county council’s website at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/floodinghardshipfund until the fund closes on Friday 4 August.
To make a claim, businesses will need to provide photographs showing spoilt items of stock, internal building damage and receipts for replacement products.
Households will be asked to provide details about how the flood has affected them including loss of earnings, water damage to food, costs to replace essential items and increased electricity costs to help dry out their home using a dehumidifier.
Payments to households will be made as quickly as possible using the council’s existing Discretionary Fund with cash provided at the Post Office. Payments to businesses will be made by BACS bank transfer.
Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Derbyshire County Council said: “The torrential downpours in early July caused unavoidable flash flooding in Matlock and other communities across Derbyshire as drains were overwhelmed with the huge quantity of rainwater.
“Since that weekend, I’ve seen the impact of the surface water flooding and spoken to a number of residents and businesses in the areas affected.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder with local communities and our financial grant scheme will help people deal with the aftermath of the flood damage and clean up, supporting their business or their home.
“The flood grant application process is straightforward and I’d urge people to apply for the help on offer. If we experience any further flooding over the coming months, we intend to reopen the scheme to provide additional, emergency support to local communities.”
In areas affected by the Saturday 8 July flash flooding, work to patch and repair roads damaged by the flash flooding started the next day, with the highways team replacing manholes lifted by the storm surge and patching roads damaged by the flood waters.
Additional cleaning of the road drains and gullies was carried out to remove tree branches, gravel and leaves washed down during the thunderstorms.
Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport said: “Despite increasing the frequency of our drain cleaning and gully emptying in Matlock, the deluge on Saturday 8 July overwhelmed the road drains in a number of areas, including the A615 Bakewell Road through the town.
“We recognise that this is upsetting for households and businesses and so, alongside the emergency grant relief fund, we are in discussions with Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency, to try to identify a long term solution to tackle flash flooding issues in Matlock town centre.”
To help understand the complex reasons behind the surface water flooding issues in Matlock town centre, the county council commissioned a major hydraulic modelling study in May 2023. The results of the study, likely to be published at the end of the year, will be used to identify potential solutions for the area.
The county council is also working closely with a number of key partners, including the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water, to develop ways to manage flooding across the Upper River Derwent region, stretching from Buxton to Matlock, including options like tree planting, creating natural dams made from logs across smaller streams to slow the flow of water and improvement works to existing flood assets.
Article by Derbyshire County Council
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