MP DEMANDS ANSWERS ON FLOOD CRISIS (Cheltenham Liberal Democrats)

Cheltenham Liberal Democrats <info@cheltlibdems.org.uk>

MP DEMANDS ANSWERS ON FLOOD CRISIS

July 23, 2007 4:24 PM

As Cheltenham faces the loss of its water supply for up to a fortnight, the town's MP Martin Horwood is demanding answers to six key questions.

Mr Horwood, who has visited homes and businesses across the town over the weekend to see the devastation at first hand, said:

"1. Why did critical facilities such as the Mythe pumping station and the Walham electricity substation not have adequate flood defences in place, requiring emergency services to take real risks building those flood defences in the middle of rising waters.

"2. Why, when we had nearly a week's notice of the rains, were those homes and businesses at risk of flash flooding still not protected with sandbags or diversionary trenches? The classic examples being the George Readings and Priors Farm estates, where houses were inundated for the second time in what looks to be an entirely preventable way.

"3. Why has so much damage in Cheltenham happened on uphill areas where culverts and drains seem to have been poorly maintained making brooks and streams normally a few inches deep rise, in one case in Oak Avenue, Charlton Kings, 15 feet to inundate nearby homes?

"4. Why have houses in the centre of Cheltenham been flooded twice in a month when our brand new flood alleviation scheme costing £23 million was supposed to protect against a once in 100 year flood, a phrase that has rapidly lost all meaning.

"5. How will the government and the insurance industry respond to those people whose houses have never flooded before but who now face falling house prices and spiralling insurance premiums?

"And finally with climate change promising many more events like this, will the government rethink its plans to plough ahead with hundreds of thousands of new homes on Greenfield sites in flood risk areas like Gloucestershire regardless of the environmental impact?"

Mr Horwood added:

"BBC Radio Gloucestershire continues to be an invaluable source of local information during the crisis but the greatest thanks are due to the emergency services, including the RNLI and the military, who have made heroic efforts and prevented the situation becoming much worse, for instance through preventing the even more widespread loss of electricity from the Walham electricity substation."