Flooding (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Flooding

November 6, 2007 5:16 PM
By Cllr Zoé Patrick in County Council

I am pleased that this Council has followed our group's initiative to do something about the damage and distress caused by the recent flooding in Oxfordshire. It is a pity that this was not debated at the last Council, because it was not considered urgent enough. Although pleased that the scrutiny committee is looking at this as a review, this had originally not been the case when I sat in on that scrutiny committee when it had been decided not to do a review. Then after our motion to Council, there was a sudden U turn and a review appeared on the table before Cabinet.

That aside, there is a lot of work to do, and the public expect to see some positive action. Not least, they wish to see some urgent work regarding works on ditches and culverts for which this Council is responsible. And many people have mentioned the fact that many of our drains have been blocked and I understand this is because they are now only emptied once a year. Apparently, this used to be done 3 or 4 times a year, but not now, and some drains have been left for several years.

And we do need to call on the EA and Thames Water to meet their obligations too regarding the management of watercourses, surface water drainage and sewerage. Nothing is worse than sewerage in houses along with floodwater, and this has caused immense distress to flood victims.

I am pleased that the Leader has written to the Secretary of State regarding funding from central government, and even better if we are to get some EU funding as I heard him speak on the radio earlier last week. However, as I stated earlier, it may have been helpful if he had shared this with other members of this Council. It is a shame we only get to hear about what is happening by reading our website, so members of this Council know nothing more than the general public.

Communication was a big issue during the summer floods, many people didn't know where to go for help and we need much better planning and co-ordination in future with our districts and parishes - its called Partnership Working. It is the people on the ground, in those parishes and towns who can be on call to provide that immediate help and advice, and that needs to cascade down. Also as ward councillors, we need to be kept informed about where people can go for help, because it is to us that many people turn. I would also like to pay tribute to those people in communities who all rallied together to help one another in this time of need. There was a real sense of neighbourliness and a pulling together of resources. We can build on this if we help parishes to form groups of volunteers in the future, but to do that they need our support and we must strive to give this, especially in ensuring good communication between the emergency services and those operating on the ground.

Let us learn lessons from this review, and may we plan better in the future, I trust you will now support this motion.