AFTER the devastating flood in Buckskin in 2014, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) and Hampshire County Council have come up with a flood alleviation scheme.

The scheme aims to provide residents in the Buckskin area with more protection from flooding, and reduce the cost and distress if anything were to ever happen again.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, members of the borough council agreed to approve £250,000 contribution to the scheme.

This will form part of the £6.2 million project, which would see the installation of a surface water gravity pipe installed between the Ridgeway Centre area in Buckskin and the start of the existing Winterbourne ditch to the north of Worting Road roundabout.

There would also be an enhanced flood storage area at Saunders Field with measures to control discharge to the River Loddon and without increasing the risk of flooding downstream.

BDBC cabinet member for communities and community safety, Councillor Simon Bound said: “This work has reached a point now where it seems likely that a viable flood alleviation scheme can be implemented.

“It is down to high involvement that we have had with residents in the Buckskin area that the data has been collected and we have been able to move forward with this project.”

Hampshire County Councillor for Basingstoke South West and chair of the flood alleviation committee, Cllr Stephen Reid praised the scheme.

He said: “We cannot stop this from happening in the future, but if we can take every step to reduce the impact it is a positive one.

“By introducing the flood alleviation scheme, it would be an investment in Buckskin and reassure residents who are living there.”

The scheme is also being financially supported by Hampshire County Council, the environment agency, the national Flood Defence Grant in Aid support and local levy funding from Flood Authority contributions, as well as other partners. It is anticipated that construction work will get under way next summer.