Friday 5th December 2014
Two weeks ago, on this website, Warminster resident Al Wright asked: “Should Warminster Town Council be publicising the Public Consultation on Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS)?”
Although the risk of flooding (particularly even more risky than before with all the proposed housing developments in the offing for Warminster now and in the future) is a matter of major concern for Warminster residents, the Town Council has not publicised the LFRMS Public Consultation.
Al Wright has now contacted the Town Clerk. He writes ~
“Dear Warminster Council,
Please could you advertise the article below or the details from it, on your website as it effects all people living and working in Wiltshire.
Can you also indicate what the Town Council thinks of Wiltshire Council’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, and if they are happy it covers Warminster adequately? If not, what is needed to resolve this and how can the public help?
Considering Swindon already has a local flood risk strategy in place, why are they the only media source advertising this consultation to the public?
Please rectify this and add it to the news portion of the Warminster Town Council website.
Thanks for your assistance.”
Wiltshire Council Puts Flood Strategy To Public Consultation
Waterlogged fields at Cricklade during
the severe flooding earlier this year.
First published 05:30 Thursday 4 December 2014 in Newsby Mike Benke, @Michael_Benke
WILTSHIRE Council is considering a strategy to help increase its understanding of flooding in the county in a bid to prepare for future incidents.
Councillors have drawn up a draft local flood risk strategy which they have put out for public consultation before it is fully adopted.
It involves working with a number of groups and organisations, ranging from water companies to residents’ associations, to collate as much information as possible.
From this it wants to develop a long-term plan to deal with severe flooding.
Last year local authorities were given responsibility for dealing with flooding and coming up with a plan. A few months ago Swindon Council adopted its own plan and now Wiltshire is following suit.
In recent years there have been a number of periods of heavy rainfall which have lead to properties flooding, some in north Wiltshire. Most recently 500 properties flooded during heavy rains at the start of 2014.
The council says the plan will allow it to assess the most severe risk areas in the county and how it will respond.
A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said: “Flooding is a serious issue in Wiltshire, with extensive flooding in the north of the county taking place in 2007 and 2008, and more recently across the whole county in 2014, when more than 500 properties were affected.
“Our local flood risk strategy seeks to improve knowledge regarding flood risk, protection from flooding, resilience to flooding and improve communications about flooding issues.”
The council works with residents, neighbouring authorities and other stakeholders on flood prevention schemes, as well as managing the response to flooding incidents, for example by assisting the elderly or infirm with sandbags and protecting commercial property to prevent environmental pollution.
The formal consultation gives people the opportunity to have their say and is open until the end of December.
The spokesman added:”We are currently seeking the views of the public, local councils and other organisations regarding the proposed local flood risk management strategy. The results of the consultation will be reported to the council’s cabinet when the strategy is considered for adoption early next year.”
