Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, has spoken of his determination to keep on tackling flood prevention to make sure we never see a repeat of the devastation caused by floods in 2007.
Heavy rain throughout the beginning of November led once again to people’s homes being flooded as the overly saturated ground couldn’t cope with the amount of rainfall.
Some parts of Beverley and Holderness saw almost twice the average level of rainfall for November, according to the Met Office.
Graham, on the campaign trail at the time ahead of the December General Election, visited houses around Swinemoor in Beverley, in addition to assisting residents in Walkington.
Concerned that these homes remain so vulnerable, Graham has taken up the issue with East Riding Council to find out what needs to be done to ensure they will be more resilient to heavy rainfall in future.
Commenting on the situation, Graham said;
“These floods have damaged not just residents’ homes, but farmers’ livelihoods as much of their land has been underwater. Although the harm caused this time was much less severe than it could have been, it served to bring back memories of just how terrible those 2007 floods were.”
“I was extremely pleased by the response of East Riding Council and Humberside Fire & Rescue, who worked hard overnight to pump water away and help affected constituents, but long-term steps need to be taken.”
“I am delighted that our manifesto pledges an additional £4 billion for extra flood defences over the next few years, as this simply isn’t a problem that will go away on its own.”
Graham is seeking to relaunch the popular River Hull Board, which he previously founded and chaired and which carried out much important work including dredging, raising riverbanks, removing sunken vessels and installing pumping stations.
Graham added;
“As well as ensuring that long-term measures are put in place, I’ll be looking at what can be done immediately.”
“I’m also in touch with the Environment Secretary regarding compensation for local farmers, whose land helps to alleviate the impact on homes by storing excess floodwater.”
Did not residents not have to pay extra a few years ago on their council tax for some kind of extra flood defences.The councils operations to stop flooding are a joke.I saw with my own eyes a mobile road sweeper go down one side of the road cleaning the road gutters but not the other,what a waste of time.Autumn is the time of year when trees shed their leaves and block drains,the council should be working 24/7 to keep the drains clear but they dont and claim lack of money which is just an excuse for doing nothing.