North Herefordshire MP speaks about flooding in the area

It was distressing to see lives once again disrupted as Storm Bert brought flooding that closed roads and schools, upended travel plans, and threatened homes in November.

Residents had not even had time to recover from the flooding in October. At that time, I met with constituents in my surgeries affected by the flooding.

They described the fear they had felt, and showed me videos of flood water in their homes, and of the sodden aftermath. 

I attended a meeting of over 100 residents in Eardisland who have faced repeated flooding. I understand that in total around 100 properties around Herefordshire were flooded in October, and more affected in November.

To recover from a traumatic event like this, residents need quick and responsive support. And that should be the idea behind the Flood Recovery Framework. 

It provides support – in the form of grants, and relief from council tax and business rates – to help residents and business owners affected by flooding to recover immediately afterwards. Government ministers decide whether or not to provide this support – but in October they chose not to. Just a few weeks later, flooding struck again.

Are Government ministers really best placed to decide when an area warrants this support? I don’t think they are, and I have urged the Environment Secretary to change how the system works. 

These decisions should lie with local councils, who can rely on local expertise and knowledge to assess when this support is needed and ensure residents can access it quickly.

Sadly, this issue is not going away. As climate change progresses, it is making extreme weather more frequent and more severe. Successive Governments have not made flood resilience and preparedness enough of a priority – we’ve seen DEFRA’s budget cut and flood protection projects dropped.

So it is time for a new approach, focused both on building resilience to flooding to limit its impact, and on preparedness to ensure a quick recovery after the fact. I will keep raising this issue in Parliament and pressing for a forward-thinking, long-term approach to this increasing challenge to our country.

North Herefordshire Green MP Ellie Chowns.