Southwater gets £60,000 for flood defences

Cabinet members for Highways and Transport and Residents Services recommended for approval seven funding applications totalling £92,000 from the £1.25m allocated for Operation Watershed last Wednesday.

Six key areas have been identified as part of the bid: Church Lane/Worthing Road, Easteds Lane, Cripplegate Lane, Mill Straight, Station Road near Christ’s Hospital and Worthing Road/New Road.

Catherine Tobin, Southwater Parish clerk, said: “We are committed to a variety of partnerships, some existing and some new, including principal authorities and commercial contractors.

“We have identified areas but I wouldn’t want to raise people’s aspirations at this early stage in the negotiations.”

She said the majority of the money will go to commercial contractors and community payback schemes.

The county council refused no funding applications and most of the county fund has now been allocated.

The other applications were: Welt Felpham Flood Action Assembly, £8,500 to clear ditches and a drainage pipe; Sutton & Balavington, £1,080 to clear a ditch and unblocking a drainage pipe; Ham Manor Golf Club, £5,469 to de-silt and clear Black Ditch, Angmering; SPERA, £6,774 to survey the drainage network at Summerley estate; Shipley, £600 for a culvert on Smithers Hill Lane; and Chidham & Hambrook, £3,456 for a 25m culvert for a collapsed ditch.