The Bristol areas where 1,300 homes and businesses are at risk of flooding

Bristol needs an extra £81million for flood defences along the river Avon, according to the city council.

At the moment a severe flood from the river could see 1,300 homes and businesses flooded, with this risk expected to grow from climate change and rising sea levels.

According to the council's flood risk strategy, several areas of Bristol's city centre are at risk from rising sea levels.

These are the areas most at risk of tidal flooding along the river Avon by 2079 according to the council's surveys:

• The Western Harbour area, including Dowry Place and Oldfield Place up towards Hotwells Road.

• Canons Marsh area including Millennium Square and Anchor Square.

• The city centre along Victoria Street from the river to the A4044

• St Philip's Marsh

Thousands of new homes are also planned for areas at risk of flooding, like St Phillip’s Marsh and the Western Harbour.

Bristol City Council is working with the Environment Agency and the West of England Combined Authority on plans for defences along the river Avon.

Over the next decade, the defences could cost £216million - but council chiefs still need to find a third of that money.

Councillor Nicola Beech, cabinet member for strategic planning, resilience and floods, said: “We’re working together to get the funding needed to protect Bristol from rising sea levels and future flood events.

"With all our funding sources together, that still leaves a gap of £81million. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

"This is proper long-term business planning and resilience for the city. I’m absolutely confident we’ll get there.

“But while we’re challenging ourselves about our day-to-day budget, we have these humongous threats to our city that we must protect ourselves from.

"So it’s a call out to anyone who’ll listen and the government to say we’ll continue to grow our city and meet our challenges, but this also needs to be funded.”

She made the comments during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday 4 October, which heard the scheme currently has £69million from central government funding for flood defences, £10million from the council’s economic development fund, £20million from community infrastructure levies, and £10million from the council’s reserves.

Talks are also ongoing with the West of England Combined Authority about sourcing extra money.

Cllr Kye Dudd, cabinet member for climate, said: “It’s vitally important we make progress on this because the risk is going up because of climate change.

"If we did nothing, the number of properties that would be affected by the risk of flooding would more than double by the end of the century.

"There’s also a lot of benefits from building flood defences, like the housing that we could potentially get out of it, spaces for nature, and opportunities for cycling routes.”

Credit: Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter Service