A fact-finding visit has given an MP an important insight into how major investment is helping to protect areas and communities against flooding.

North West Norfolk MP James Wild visited some of the King’s Lynn Internal Drainage Board (IDB) key sites to find out how investment is strengthening the district’s capacity to manage water levels and protect communities from increasingly intense rainfall.

He met staff from the Water Management Alliance, including project delivery manager Kari Nash, and project manager Mel Neale, at Green Bank Pumping Station near Tilney Fen End. The station plays a vital role in protecting Marshland St James, parts of Wisbech, and hundreds of acres of high-grade farmland across both North West and South West Norfolk.

New control panels have been installed and he heard more about how the planned replacements of existing pumps will improve the station’s operational efficiency and reliability. This work is due next spring as part of a £920,000 investment.

Mr Wild raised concerns about the financial pressures that current funding structures place on local taxpayers in flood-prone areas and stressed the need for reform to ensure a fairer, more resilient approach to protecting communities, farmland, and the local economy.

From Green Bank, went on to inspect two recently completed culvert replacements at West Drove North at Walton Highway and nearby Harps Hall Road, which together strengthen the district’s drainage network and its capacity to handle more frequent and severe weather events.

He learned how Storm Recovery funding, allocated following the unprecedented winter of 2023, has delivered substantial investment across the Lynn IDB district.

In addition to the £920,000 at Green Bank and £1 million for major culvert repairs crossing highways in North West Norfolk, the programme has supported a number of other projects which sit alongside the board’s routine maintenance of nearly 600 kilometres of watercourses and ongoing upkeep of pumping stations and other assets across the district.

Following the visit, Mr Wild said: “This visit to Green Bank Pumping Station underlined the critical importance of continued investment in our flood defences at a time when extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and it was valuable to see firsthand how local investment is being used to modernise our water management infrastructure and strengthen essential services.

“It was also a valuable opportunity to discuss the pressures current funding structures place on council taxpayers in areas at flood risk and I committed to working with MPs, councils, and water management partners to reform the funding system and secure a fairer, more sustainable approach to flood risk management.”