The Monktonmead pumping station in Ryde, Isle of Wight.
FLOOD defence work costing more than £1 million has been scheduled for the Monktonmead Brook sea outfall.
The Environment Agency announced preparatory work for the Isle of Wight scheme in its £294 million programme for next financial year.
During an exceptionally wet winter the brook has flooded several times, but the EA drafted-in emergency pumps and prevented flooding to low-lying properties in The Strand and Esplanade areas.
It also brought-in diggers to clear the brook’s sea outfall which regularly blocks with sand that has built-up since the construction of Ryde Harbour.
The EA says it will be working on designing a scheme which could cost £1 million.
It has set aside £25,000 for the next financial year, with the bulk of expenditure expected the year after.
It says the work will potentially give added flood protection to 200 homes, some of which regularly flooded before creation of the pumping station.
One scheme it is considering is extending the outfall to pump water from the brook into Ryde Harbour where the outfall would not block.
The EA says it also hopes to raise the level of the sea wall at Embankment Road, Bembridge, in 2014-15 as another Island flood defence measure — if finances allow.