The Flood Hub

The Lake District has nearly fully recovered from the damage and destruction caused by Storm Desmond in 2015.

The bosses of the National Park reported that £3 million has been spent on repairing the Lake Districts infrastructure. Members of the public now have full access to 40km of public rights of way which were badly damaged by the storm.

Works carried out as part of the project include:

• 94 bridges were repaired and strengthened to protect against damage if an event at the same scale as Storm Desmond was to happen again.
• 65 public footpaths have been repaired.
• 44 gates, stiles and signposts have been re-instated.

Repair work on Ford Bridge at Burneside also began last week. The bridge was affected by Storm Desmond and it has been closed for nearly a year due to damage caused by the flood. It is hoped that the bridge will reopen in Spring.

Cumbria County Council have recently announced that £500,000 of repairs have been completed in areas outside of the National Park. More than 40 footpaths and 13 footbridges across the county have been repaired and upgraded.

However, more money is required to ensure crucial work can be carried out so that the Lake District can withstand any future weather event, similar or worse than that of Storm Desmond.  It is estimated that £2 million will be required to finish all of the work.

For more information, click here.