A successful scheme of natural flood management around Shipston could lead to further funding bids for at risk areas across Warwickshire after the Environment Agency announced that it will double the number of schemes it will support.

The £312,000 project along the River Stour has been highlighted by the EA after the community-led Shipston Area Flood Action Group (SAFAG) won this year's Environment Agency Flood and Coast Excellence Award for Community Partnership.

At this week's full council meeting of Warwickshire County Council, Cllr Jonathan Chilvers asked if more such projects will seek EA funding.

In a question to the portfolio holder for fire and rescue and community safety, Cllr Andy Crump, he asked: "Do you welcome the conclusions from the Environment Agency's four-year evaluation of natural flood management [NFM] pilots (including the Shipston one) which found that nature-based solutions were much more cost efficient than 'concrete' solutions and protected 1,000s of homes? 

"Now that the Environment Agency plans to double the NFM schemes it funds, will you ensure that Warwickshire brings forward more bids for this funding to protect residents in our county?" 

Shipston's volunteers formed their group in 2014 and started to put their 'low-tech' NFM measures in place in 2017.

They now have more than 700 leaky barriers and ponds to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall, reducing the flood risk to 17 villages and towns. Nearly 90 per cent of the money for the project came from the EA.

Cllr Crump said: "Warwickshire has been really successful in recent years in helping to facilitate natural flood management schemes, working with the Environment Agency and with local partnerships such as the Shipston Flood Resilience Forum. We are looking for mainstream funding for this in order to take it forward.

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"We will look at every opportunity to apply for funding to deliver flood protection in our area and we warmly welcome the Environment Agency's increase in funding for natural flood resilience.

"It is worth remembering that for larger, less frequent flood events, NFM will provide limited benefit as the storage in the features is quickly overwhelmed. Because of this, NFM is often used in conjunction with more traditional schemes."