Indeed. Having cut flood defence alongside a pile of other capital expenditure the government reinstated some.
Sadly the programme to protect Leeds City Centre from the Aire came too late. Shelved in 2011, only restarted this year with a reduced scale, cut by two thirds. The resultant economic damage will likely dwarf the programme cost.
Another fantastic side effect of the clueless, cack-handed cuts to capital projects made in the early part of last Parliament because they were 'easy', despite being economically illiterate.
Guess we will never know if, had funding been maintained and a thousand flood defence projects not stalled, it would've been competed or enough.
Edit: Although a completed section of the project apparently saved the part of the city behind it, Granary Wharf.
As the Yorkshire Evening Post notes, a northern powerhouse isn't much use when it's under water. The largest legal and financial centre in England outside of London, with a growing, diversifying economy in services and retail providing the power plant for the regional economy has been brought to a shuddering halt for the sake of what is small change compared to the huge investments in London and the Thames Valley.
That'll teach us for largely voting Labour here.
From 2011:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12402284
Quote:
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But projects in Leeds, York, Thirsk and Morpeth have been put on hold.
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Quote:
The Lib Dem MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland, and the Labour MP for Leeds East, George Mudie, both criticised the decision to shelve flood defence work in the city.
Mr Mudie said: "Leeds city centre came within centimetres of flooding in 2000 and had numerous near misses. This is the largest city in the north and it cannot be allowed to be knocked out by flooding."
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http://gregmulholland.org/en/article...flood-defences
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pa...ionScheme.aspx