New strategy to reduce flood risk in Kirklees
Our Cabinet have just approved a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, which sets out our role in managing the risk of flooding in Kirklees.
Why is this strategy important?
In Kirklees, there are more than 44,000 properties currently at risk from different kinds of flooding. Thanks to climate change, we only expect these numbers to rise in future.
While it will never be possible to prevent all flooding, we can take action to manage the risk, make local communities more resilient to flooding, and reduce the impact on people who live and work in Kirklees.
Kirklees Council are a Lead Local Flood Authority, which means we play a big part in managing flood risks for Kirklees. We’ve established this new strategy to lay out how flood risk will be managed locally, and how homes and businesses which are at risk should be protected – anticipating the effects of climate change.
How has the strategy been developed?
Our strategy reflects the objectives of the government’s national strategy on managing flood risk across the UK.
We’ve also done a lot of public engagement of our own around flood risk since 2022. This engagement involved a lot of relevant services across Kirklees who help tackle flooding, key partners like the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water, and – most importantly – a big focus on local communities in areas we know are at risk of flooding.
All this feedback has helped us shape this new strategy, making sure it fits with what flood risk looks like in Kirklees and the kind of support local communities really need.
What does the new strategy mean?
The new strategy places a much bigger focus on creating resilient communities which are able to ‘build back better’ after flooding. We’ll be looking at more natural options to slow down the flow of water, and making sure we’re really adaptive in terms of how we respond to new climate hazards.
Now that the new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy has been approved, our priority going forward will be working together with local communities around awareness and shared responsibilities when flooding occurs, and our own commitment in responding to severe weather events.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance & Regeneration, says:
“We currently have more than 44,000 properties in Kirklees which are at risk of flooding for various reasons. These are people’s homes, their businesses, their lives – and we only expect flood risks to rise with the effects of climate change.
“This new strategy is very focused on us being more adaptive to new climate hazards, and linking in not just with other organisations involved in that chain reaction but also with the communities who are most effected.
“We’ll never be able to prevent all flooding, but we want to make our communities, our local businesses and our land more resilient. We’ll do all we can to support those at risk, and where flooding does happen it’s about building back better.”