Letter: Need to search for long term answers
Around 50 properties were flooded in Ludlow by Storm Dennis. Our community pulled together to help during the flood and afterwards. We must now look towards long term ways of easing flooding pressure.
The overflow channels through the culverts at Burway Bridge need digging out to ease the threat to Lower Corve Street. At Temeside, the stone wall that protects the road and houses must be built higher and a broken gate replaced with a flood gate.
We must also consider people who live and work downstream of Ludlow. We can’t just let water rush through our town to be dumped on Tenbury and beyond. The Friends of the Corve and Teme, the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and many others are already working to slow the flow of water coming towards Ludlow by digging swales, building leaky dams and planting trees. We need many more schemes like this.
We must bar farmers and other landowners from storing silage bales, muck heaps and other material on the flood plain. In major floods, these are washed downstream, clogging culverts, increasing flood levels and damaging property.
Homes and businesses affected by Storm Dennis and its aftermath are entitled to hardship payments along with funding for measures to protect their properties in future. They should register with Shropshire Council on 0345 678 9006 as soon as they can.
Andy Boddington, Ludlow
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