Hampshire County Council seeks Government help as floods clean-up bill hits £63m

The figure has been revealed as the true scale of damage to the county’s infrastructure and the expense of preventing widespread flooding is only now becoming clear.

The bombshell bill also comes as the Government said it could only spare Hampshire County Council £11.5m towards repairing roads.

And it follows the council’s £90m budget cut that will see 1,000 posts lost by March 2015.

County leader Cllr Roy Perry, who is set to discuss the impact of the floods at a Cabinet meeting next Monday, said he would be asking the Government for more help.

He said: “We’ll be bidding for more resources, bearing in mind we estimate that another £25m is needed to fix damaged roads alone.”

He added: “I am conscious also that a lot of businesses in Hampshire have suffered and we have been exploring what help there is available in that respect, as well as for individual householders.”

Cllr Perry has had a meeting with local government minister Brandon Lewis on the impact of the flooding, but he said he would be planning a further meeting with the Department of Communities and Local Government to press Hampshire’s case for extra cash.

Along with Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Dame Mary Fagan, Cllr Perry said he would be hosting an event recognising the efforts of people and organisations during the floods on a date to be announced after Easter.

He said: “We intend to find an appropriate way to express the county’s thanks to the volunteers who were the ‘saints and saviours’ of flooding within Hampshire.”

Meanwhile, Test Valley Borough Council is considering giving a three-month tax discount for people whose properties have been affected by flooding.

Proposals to help flood victims will go before the borough Cabinet on April 16 and the full council the next day.

The discount would apply to anyone “whose day-to-day activities were adversely affected as a result of flooding” between December 1 last year and March 31.