The Government has been urged to “wake up” to the threat of flooding by local leaders in Leicestershire. They said “hundreds” of residents have been “left homeless” in the wake of this week’s devastating floods, with many forced to seek shelter with “just the clothes they were wearing”.
The dire situation, which comes just a year after Storm Henk destroyed countless homes and business last January, left 630 local properties flooded, more than 60 people needing to be rescued and forced East Midlands Ambulance Service to declare its first ever critical incident. This is despite Sir Keir Starmer visiting the county after Storm Henk and promising action against the risk of flooding.
Following this week’s emergency, local leaders have now written to the Government to demand it “wakes up” to “the threat posed by flooding” and make changes at a national level to help better prevent and react to situations like this. The letter has been jointly signed by Deborah Taylor, acting leader of Leicestershire County Council, and Gale Walker, leader of Rutland County Council, as well as the leaders of Leicestershire’s seven district and borough councils.
READ MORE:‘We’ve lost everything’ say owners of flooded pub
LeicestershireLive has also approached the Government to request an interview with deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government Angela Rayner regarding the Government’s plans to reduce flooding risks locally. We have not yet received a response.
The leaders’ letter reads: “Once again, severe flooding has seen residents across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland endure a dire start to the New Year. Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter after thawing snow and intense rainfall, which also affected numerous businesses.
Some roads were left ‘impassable’
(Image: Robert Clare)
“Emergency services, councils, NHS and voluntary groups are still working day and night dealing with the major incident declared early on Monday (6 January) as individual agency resources were overwhelmed […] This is the second year in a row where hundreds of residents are left homeless and local pubs, sports clubs and others do not know if they will be able to survive. Many are cleaning up after just getting on their feet after Storm Henk battered the area just 12 months ago.
“Residents sought shelter and support in emergency rest centres, many with just the clothes they were wearing. It is a torrid situation.”
The leaders said the “right thing” for the Government to do now is “release funding” to help residents and business owners “get back to some kind of normality”. They added there is a “limit” to what they themselves can do without additional Government aid.
The letter continued: “We’re also calling on the Government to wake up to the threat posed by flooding. Our climate is changing and we need a new approach. We are seeing far more frequent events, causing greater impact and affecting areas never historically known to flood. National changes to funding and powers are required to help us better prevent and then react to flooding when it does occur.”
Among the leaders’ requests are the streamlining of processes to access Environment Agency funding for flood prevention projects, which they claim takes “at best two years” for even a “straightforward” project. They also want national grant funding for property owners so they can make their homes and businesses resilient.
They are also calling for “more stringent planning powers” when it comes to building on floodplains, and a “new national communications campaign” to “bring about behaviour change” and awareness as flooding is becoming a “normal occurrence”.
The letter concludes: “Flooding is one of the biggest threats to our communities and needs propelling to the top of the agenda. Government needs to step up and lead the conversation on how we collectively up our game in tacking flooding. Current regulations and funding mean we are doing a major disservice to those many devastated communities up and down the country.”
Steve Reed, Labour’s environment secretary, visited Quorn yesterday (Thursday, January 9) to meet impacted residents. Plans to invest £2.4 billion to build and upgrade flood defences protecting homes and business across the country and in Leicestershire were also announced.