NFU flood management and access adviser Martin Rogers said: “Natural flood management schemes have their place, however they are not a universal solution and must be used alongside a package of measures across the catchment to improve flood resilience to both urban and rural communities, including traditional hard-engineered structures and their maintenance.
“The correct incentives and support must be in place and available to farmers that do get involved in natural flood management schemes and they need to take into consideration a wide range of factors. Loss in productivity, costs of recovery after a flood event and recognition of the service the scheme is providing must all be taken into account.”
The NFU urges stakeholders to actively consult and engage with farmers regarding these schemes to ensure that they can work alongside other land uses, including agriculture and food production. It is crucial that any scheme agreed must work for both landowners and tenants.
Mr Rogers continued: “In light of the Green Alliance report launch, we question the figures they use to make their point about flood management measures. There are countless pots of money that are earmarked for different purposes and the £1.5 billion of support payments they reference sets to achieve something else – the production of great British food to feed the nation.
“In addition to this the Government has committed to support increased flood defense measures by pledging £3 billion in capital works by 2021 and £1 billion for maintenance projects by the end of this parliament.”
Read our response to the Efra Select Committee report on flooding here.