On Monday 5th June Marisa, as lead Cabinet member for the £600m+ River Thames Scheme, met the chair of the Environment Agency, Alan Lovell DL, to walk the key points in the Scheme, discuss the progress which has been made and further develop the partnership between Surrey County Council and the EA.
The visit proved very useful for understanding how the scheme will work and the impact it will have on the local community. Being able to walk around with the technical experts enabled both sides to ask detailed questions and see how future flooding will be prevented. The visit helped cement the already strong EA and SCC partnership which is the first of its kind and is likely to be replicated in future. Both sides are able to provide a wide range of expertise to make the project even more than a flooding solution alone and will add in a range of additional benefits around biodiversity and sustainable travel.
Marisa said "I was delighted to spend time with Alan who, as the chair of the Environment Agency, is very well placed to understand the importance of this scheme but also help us drive awareness of how significant it is for both sides and how much we can achieve together. I am so excited about how much the River Thames Scheme will bring to the communities around it and to Surrey as a whole. It is great we are investing so much money and expertise in delivering this legacy infrastructure project."
