A Leicestershire MP has called on officials to take “immediate action” on the “destructive” flooding which has blighted the county. Neil O’Brien has demanded an urgent meeting with both Leicestershire County Council (LCC) and the Envrionment Agency after a major incident was declared following devastating floods in the area.
Mr O’Brien, who is the Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby & Wigston, said residents are living in “constant fear” whenever it rained and that floods were now a yearly occurrence. Among the worst hit on Monday (January 6) was Great Glen which is the MP’s constituency and saw the dramatic rescue of a woman trapped in her car in rising flood waters.
The Tory MP says urgent action is now required to prevent these incidents repeating themselves. He said: “Immediate action is needed to prevent this from happening again. Residents need to know that the authorities are doing everything possible to protect their properties, which is why I am calling an urgent meeting. These yearly flooding events must stop.”
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MP Neil O’Brien has demanded urgent action
Mr O’Brien said residents were also concerned that recent development has increased flooding in Great Glen, which he said, was why he was fighting against plans for a new town at Stretton Hall. He said: “It seems crazy to build a development of thousands of new houses right next to the village which already suffers badly from flooding. That will surely only make the situation worse. I am continuing to press the council on this.
Residents shared the MP’s concerns. One said: “If you cover fields with concrete and tarmac plus pull out established hedgerows and fell trees to accommodate new housing estates, the result is flooding….What soil is left in the new little gardens has builders rubble clogging the ground making drainage even slower than the clay soil does.”
Another said: “This is no longer a ‘yearly’ occurrence, it’s more like monthly. The County Arms train bridge being a case in point. Anybody that needs to commute in/out of Oadby and Wigston to/from the surrounding districts, risks being caught up in flood water, with limited choices of which way to travel and not everybody can work from home.”
Councillor Phil Knowles, leader of Harborough District Council, said the authority was working with LCC to help those most affected. He said: “Council officers have been deployed to some of the affected areas with sandbag supplies and offers of support to residents and businesses, with prioritisation being given to the most vulnerable residents. We are working with LCC and other agencies to support immediate issues, but it appears a significant rainfall on saturated land has unfortunately caused localised flooding issues.”
Flooding chaos in Great Glen
(Image: Ann Collick)
Coun Knowles said the council was also calling for an urgent meeting so “lessons can be learnt”. He said: “We also need to explore in detail the utilisation of available investment funds by partners that might play a significant part in this for the future.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said it was looking to improve defences in the Harborough area. They said: “We know the devastating impact flooding can have on communities and are committed to working with Leicestershire County Council and the residents of Market Harborough on ways the area can become more resilient to flooding incidents. People should search ‘check my flood risk’, sign up for free flood warnings, and keep up to date with the latest situation at @EnvAgency on X.”
Ozzy O’Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport at Leicestershire County Council, said the council sympathised with anyone who has suffered damage to their property during the unprecedented floods. He said heavy rainfall on already saturated land couple with the effect of climate change had made flooding far more frequent in the county.
He added: “Whilst we are not responsible for, or able to prevent flooding, we are working hard with partner agencies on their investigations so we can coordinate responses and take action where we can. Flooding can happen at any time of year and we urge residents to be prepared for any flood incidents that may occur.”
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