Call for action to tackle flooding risk in village
An urgent meeting has been held to discuss how flooding in a small village near Shrewsbury can be alleviated.
Shropshire Councillor Heather Kidd, who represents Chirbury and Worthen called an urgent meeting of specialists to try and find a way to tackle this problem.
It follows repeated incidents of extreme weather and a number of instances of flooding in the village of Worthen over the last few months.
Officers from the Land Drainage Team on Shropshire Council and the Environment Agency joined Councillor Kidd and local residents to walk the course of the affected area.
She said: “This is a good start but much more needs to be done. The Millstream area of Worthen has flooded repeatedly over the years causing a great deal of distress to local residents.
"Working with Shropshire and Worthen and Shelve Parish Council, I got a lot of material removed from the stream bed some eight years ago. Since then however, it has silted up again.”
As a result of the visit, Shropshire Council’s land Drainage Team is going to come and speak to Worthen and Shelve Parish Council in the new year to talk through options to alleviate flooding . They will also look at future maintenance of the brook.
They are also going to help set up a local self-help group to be able to access road closure signs and sandbags at short notice should flooding re-occur.
The Environment Agency is also looking in to the possibility of some of the flood alleviation options.
Councillor Kidd added: “We need two results from this process. First, we need to see work done to reduce the chances of future flooding and this might mean further removal of material from the stream.
“We also need to see a proper emergency flood hot line set up.. The Council owes it to many communities like Worthen across the County which are prone to flooding to have a proper and easily accessible flooding hotline for residents.”
