Environment Minister visits Shropshire's flood-hit towns
The Government's Flooding Minister has been to see first-hand several parts of the county repeatedly devastated by floods in the past 18 months.
Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister, visited Ironbridge, Shrewsbury, and Melverley, all of which have faced major flooding on several occasions since the start of last year.
Mrs Pow met with officials from both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils, representatives of the Environment Agency, councillors, and MPs, who were pressing for government support to tackle the issue.
The Environment Agency is currently working on a 'Severn Valley Water Management Scheme', which is intended to slow the flow of water upstream of Shrewsbury, reducing its impact further down the River Severn on Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Bridgnorth.
Firm proposals for the plan are expected to be announced early next year.
Mrs Pow announced a major flood barrier scheme for Bewdley as part of her visit, but the government has also confirmed £4.5m to be spent on "smaller projects within the Severn Valley".
It says they will "help tackle flooding in the long term, using natural flood management techniques such as floodplain reconnection, wetland creation, woody debris dams and woodland planting to ‘slow the flow’ of water upstream of Shrewsbury".
Ed Potter, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for economic growth, who accompanied Mrs Pow on her visit to Shrewsbury, along with Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski, said it had been a vital chance to explain why the county needs government help to tackle the issue.
He said: "From recent experience we know only too well the devastating impact that flooding can have on our local communities and businesses. We want to do whatever we can to avoid a repeat of the floods of February 2020 that affected so many towns and villages across the county, but we need the Government to help with this."
Mr Kawczynski said they had used the opportunity to lobby the minister for extra support.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, who represents Ironbridge, met with the minister and the Environment Agency during her trip to the gorge, which faced major flooding last year, where temporary flood barriers failed, but catastrophe was averted.
Telford & Wrekin Council is carrying out work to alleviate problems at Dale End, where properties have been hit up to five times in the last year, and investigations have taken place into how to improve the road surface on the wharfage so barriers do not slip backwards in future.
There have also been investigations over whether demountable flood barriers, as seen in Frankwell, Shrewsbury, could be put in place along the wharfage.
Councillor Healy said that she had pressed the case for more action to protect properties throughout the area – not just on the wharfage, and for the Environment Agency to take the gorge's World Heritage Status into account when assessing whether the work is a priority.
She said: "The thing I wanted to stress was that currently we have only part of the gorge protected. Large parts are not protected at all and we wanted to make sure she understands that it affects the whole community."
She added: "Another concern and one of the key points I made is that the Environment Agency cost benefit analysis, one of the key factors is how many properties are flooded. Bewdley scores a bit higher because of the number of properties flooded but my argument is we should recognise the World Heritage Site and the fact that it is of international significance, and that flooding could harm that.
"The Environment Agency also have quite strict rules for what they invest in – for full flood protections schemes that provide full protection all the time."
Councillor Healy said that relaxing the rules on this approach would allow some schemes to go ahead that that while not offering permanent flood protection, would significantly reduce the number of incidents faced by some property owners.
Telford MP Lucy Allan MP also met with the minister and said she was encouraged that the concerns over flooding in the county were being listened to by government.
She said: “I was delighted to welcome Minister Pow to Ironbridge on a visit to inspect flood defences and to announce further Government funding to protect residents and businesses along the course of the River Severn.
"It is very welcome that the Government continues to focus on flood defences across Shropshire and in Ironbridge in particular. Many constituents have faced repeated flooding in recent years and it is very encouraging that their concerns are being listened to in Westminster."
