It’s been a very wet year so far and the flood plains are working hard. So are our county’s flood defences and it’s great that we can rely on successful schemes in Kempsey, Upton-upon-Severn, Uckinghall, Powick and Pershore but there is still work to do.
I was delighted that the Flooding Minister intervened to ensure that the Environment Agency presses on with the permanent flood protection scheme in Severn Stoke.
It’s now vital that the willing contractor is actually awarded the contract, the newts are removed again, and work starts on building the bund as soon as the floods recede.
It is a project that has seen many false dawns and I’m going to keep the pressure up on the Environment Agency and Worcestershire County Council to get the scheme built this year protecting the homes, businesses, the historic church and the vital A38 link between Worcester and the motorway.
I’m also keen for the Environment Agency to press on with designing and installing the enhanced flood protection for over 150 properties in Tenbury Wells.
I’ve not given up on trying to find funding for the major scheme, but for now we must get as much property-level protection installed as soon as possible to improve resilience in the town.
I’ve also seen how natural flood management schemes can reduce the risk of major flooding along the Kyre Book and the Team Valley and tree planting, leaky dams and other water management techniques will be vital to reduce the impact of flooding in the years to come.
We need to think much more about how we can mitigate flood risk much further upstream and I applaud the work of bodies like the Severn Rivers Trust making progress on this important ambition.
The wet weather also means that our road network faces additional challenges and I want to thank the gritter teams who come out in low temperatures to make our roads safer and the highways teams who fix the potholes that spring up at this time of year.
Anyone driving to Gloucestershire or Herefordshire will know that our roads are better than most and don’t forget that if you see a pothole or a drainage problem, there is a great area of the Worcestershire County Council website to share your photos and report a pothole.
If the county council is going to put council tax up by nine per cent after promising us a cut, then at least they can deliver a good pothole repair service.
Severn Trent also have an extensive programme of upgrades and repairs in our area.
I hope there will be a respite from the rain soon and as ever please get in touch if I can help with anything.
