Business people call for urgent flood defences on Windermere

One businessman told the Gazette if there was another major flood he would have no choice but to “abandon” his hotel, leisure club and 47 holiday cottages and apartments for good – jeopardising 100 jobs at his business alone.

Wally Francis, chairman of the Whitewater Hotel and Lakeland Village at Backbarrow, warned there would be “catastrophic” consequences for South Lakeland’s economy if a serious flood struck again.

MP Tim Farron is accusing the Government of “betraying local people” and turning its back on Windermere by rejecting flood relief schemes proposed by the Environment Agency.

One such step would be creating tunnels or channels either side of Backbarrow Bridge to "massively increase its capacity so water could get out into Morecambe Bay much more swiftly and safely, without causing damage", he said, adding: "The bottom line is, the Government wouldn't countenance any of it."

Mr Farron has gained Government figures that show 94 businesses around the lake flooded in December 2015. But he said the Government was "refusing to cough up" because the work did not meet its "cost/benefit criteria", which prioritises homes over jobs.

Windermere Lake Cruises' managing director Nigel Wilkinson told the Gazette many businesses around the lake are even more "exposed" than they were in 2009 and 2015 because they cannot get flood insurance cover.

"As I sit here now, I look ahead to autumn and the rainy season with trepidation because we are no better protected. It's people's livelihoods that ultimately depend on it," said Mr Wilkinson.

Wally Francis, chairman of Backbarrow's 47-property Lakeland Village and the 38-bedroom Whitewater Hotel, said a future flood would be "terminal" for the business.

"The insurance company paid out last time but now they will not give us flood cover at all," he said. "There wouldn't be any other options - we are talking about demolishing buildings and abandoning properties.

"I suspect we would be putting about 100 people out of work."

Mr Francis also chairs the Windermere Lake Levels Group, a pressure group of business and property owners around the lake. He said for many years people had been calling for works at the "bottleneck" of Backbarrow Bridge to increase its capacity so the lake could be drained more quickly by the River Leven at the lake's southern tip, and discharged into Morecambe Bay.

The historic bridge is said to act like a dam during heavy rainfall, keeping the lake artificially high and increasing flooding.

Mr Francis said: "I've put in writing myself, as chairman of Lakeland Village, to the chief executive of Cumbria County Council that in the event - heaven forbid - of another flood, at the 11th hour and 59th minute we would get a contractor to demolish the parapet walls of the bridge to stop it acting as a dam. That's how desperate we are."

He said another "ingenious solution" would be a pipeline along the heritage steam railway from Lakeside to Haverthwaite to siphon excess water from the lake at up to 100 cubic metres per second. The idea has been devised by Paul Wrobel, Professor Emeritus at University College London and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Mr Wilkinson said he was "genuinely delighted" that flood defence work for Kendal was going ahead as the "number one priority" had to be protecting residents.

He said he also felt "deeply sympathetic" for businesses around the lake and it was "frustrating" that "nothing tangible" had been done following the devastation of 2009, when the lake reached its highest level ever, and again in 2015.

Mr Wilkinson said the business's insurance premiums and excesses had risen significantly, but others now had no cover at all.

"In the absence of any physical flood mitigation measures and no natural flood risk management schemes likely to deliver benefits for Windermere, Newby Bridge and Backbarrow in the near future, businesses feel very vulnerable ahead of the winter period," he said.

"The last thing we want is people associating the Lake District with flooding," he said. "People will say, we will book our winter break somewhere else."

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said he had been pushing Government ministers to change the way flood defence money was allocated. "When Parliament returns next Monday I will be submitting a motion to widen the criteria to enable us to have funding to protect businesses and homes around the lake," he said.

Mr Farron said he did not blame the Environment Agency as they were following Government criteria, which did not support flood defences primarily for economic benefit.

"What that really means is hundreds of jobs," he said. "It's completely wrong to turn your back on 94 businesses around the lake put out of action after Storm Desmond."

Mr Farron said £27 million was one potential figure he had heard for the total cost of flood defence works around the lake.

The Environment Agency told the Gazette figures had not yet been published and it had "undertaken an appraisal process for flooding in the Windermere and Backbarrow area".

A long and short list of options has been drawn up, it said, explaining: "These options had a wide range of costs and while they would attract some Government funding they would still require partnership funding, which currently isn't available."

The flood appraisal report is to be finalised this autumn/winter, said the agency, adding that it will "continue to work with the local community and businesses to understand where we can take action on the ground to improve flood protection."

Meanwhile, Cumbria County Council has defended itself against claims it is "sitting on its hands" by not having spent £43 million of Government money allocated for road and bridge repairs after Storm Desmond.

Westmorland Conservatives said just £74.6 million of the £117.6 million in Government cash has been spent, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act. County councillor James Airey said it was a "kick in the teeth" for residents.

A CCC spokesman said: "This was always planned as a four-year programme, and two-thirds of the way through we have spent two-thirds of the money. Spreading the programme over four years has avoided the extremely high level of disruption that would have occurred had the works been crammed into a shorter period."