Sandys Welcomes Start of Sandwich Flood Defence Works
Laura Sandys this morning welcomed the start of the work of a £20 million flood defence scheme to better protect the historic town of Sandwich.
Laura said: “Saving Sandwich has been a key concern as it has long been at real risk of flooding. I have been actively campaigning for flood defences for several years and took the Minister for Flooding, Richard Benyon, on a tour of the Town to impress on him the importance of Sandwich. It is one of the UK’s best preserved medieval towns and is home to the longest stretch of timbered buildings anywhere in the country.
“The odds of flooding in some areas of the Town are as high as 1 in 20. These flood defence works are vital to the safeguarding of homes, businesses and infrastructure in Sandwich.
“I very much welcome the start of these works through a Scheme which has been jointly funded by the Government, Kent County Council and Pfizer. I am particularly pleased that this continues the trend that we have seen over the last few years of substantial Government investment in to Thanet and Sandwich. Most significantly, we have already secured £35million of small and medium enterprise funding to create jobs, Enterprise Zone status for the Discovery Park, £5million for high speed line upgrades and an award from the Coastal Communities Fund.”
