The Environment Secretary praised Greater Lincolnshire for being “ahead of the game” at the launch of the LEP’s Water Management Plan.

Speaking at the House of Commons launch hosted by Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman, the Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP said: “I really do congratulate you on being ahead of the game and I know your ambition is to be an exemplar for both water use and protection from flood water.

"Greater Lincolnshire is an important food and farming area with lots of coastline and tourism and a lot to preserve about it, so it is very important you are doing this work.”

The launch was attended by Lincolnshire MPs Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle), Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) and John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) as well as Lord Porter of Spalding, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, the Chief Executive of Anglian Water Peter Simpson, Chair of the Environment Agency Emma Howard Boyd and senior figures from local councils.

A local launch of the plan is being organised in Horncastle in January 2017.

The LEP’s Water Management Plan sets out potential projects including new reservoirs and water infrastructure to ensure the supply of water for homes, businesses, farms and food manufacturers in the future.

It is also needed to help protect homes, land and businesses in Lincolnshire, much of which is low-lying, from flood risks from the sea, rivers or surface water.

Extra water supplies are required if 100,000 new homes are to be built in Greater Lincolnshire, as the LEP hopes, and to help grow the local economy by £8 billion by 2030.

Matt Warman MP told the audience: “There is nowhere that knows the value of water management more than Lincolnshire. In my own patch that means £100 million on the Boston Barrier, which means a whole host of internal drainage boards working with the Environment Agency, and working with the LEP to make sure we get the economic development benefits that go with managing flood risk as best as we possibly can.”

LEP board director Mark Tinsley commented: “I am a farmer, I live at sea level about five miles away from the Wash sea bank, and we are involved in the growth of high-value crops, so clearly I am very aware of the threat of flooding and benefits from adequate supplies of water. 

“Failure to protect the highly productive land around the Wash from flooding could create a major interruption for national food supplies, given the concentration of food processors and farm production in the area.”

You can download a digital version of the plan by visiting
http://www.greaterlincolnshirelep.co.uk/assets/downloads/Water_Management_Plan.pdf. For a hard copy version please send an email to enquiries@greaterlincolnshirelep.co.uk.