District Matters

We need a proactive approach to flood risk

November 2023

On Friday 20 October, we were reminded, once again, of the real damage done by flooding.

River and surface water flooding caused by extreme weather events will occur more frequently in future years, according to the government advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change. Knowing this, our towns and villages need to be better prepared and protected.

However, we have been here before. In past years too many of us have had to give evidence of the harm done to our communities by flood events.

An Independent Review listened to what we had to say after the Easter floods in 1998. The then Deputy Prime Minister even came to Stratford-on-Avon to see for himself the damage done to the area around the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. My hometown of Alcester was inundated with over 70 houses affected.

After another even more damaging record flooding event in 2007, many of us gave evidence to the Pitt Review and I submitted evidence to the 2007-8 House of Commons Special Report on Flooding. In Alcester, work was done to maintain and repair flood defences and install pumps, but these only brought the structures up to original 1950/60's standards.

This week I found myself on a training programme on flood management and risk and heard many of the recommendations given by previous reports still being repeated. It left me wondering: are we actually any more resilient to future flood events than we were in 2007?

On Friday, 20 October, surface water flooded major roads including the A46 and back roads across the District became impassable. In too many areas of the District, the drains were unable to cope. In the town of Alcester, the flood defences came very close to being overtopped. Henley-in-Arden's High Street became a fast-flowing river, blocked to traffic at one end by a stranded coach.

In November 2022, the National Infrastructure Commission produced a report on the risks associated with surface water flooding. It indicated that, as a nation, we are struggling to address the problem properly and not taking a sufficiently proactive approach to invest in solutions.

It called on Government, as well as water and sewerage companies, to invest in solutions including sustainable drainage and to take a much more proactive approach to increasing resilience.

Nationally, our approach must change from addressing incidents after the event to one that encourages resilience. We need a proactive partnership that tackles routine maintenance as well as preventive work.

With its strategic oversight role, the Environment Agency must work in partnership with bodies such as Ofwat to ensure water and sewerage companies as well as highway authorities invest in solutions to address surface water flooding. More nature-based solutions to river flooding would complement the hard engineering approach of defence bunds. All of these organisations will need to work closely with local government.

Local government currently has to bid for funding for many of the schemes that would address these problems. Longer-term plans need to be produced jointly across all the relevant organisations with funding devolved to a local level to address localised flooding.

During the recent flooding incidents, we once again saw the value of communities and volunteers. They need much more support as well as praise for all the work they do.