Running a little late with this one from LABOUR. Many thanks to the guys there.
Labour Forces Deal Flood Seminar
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Kent County Council has been forced to put funds into a plan to combat surface flooding in Deal and kicked this off with a seminar at the Landmark Centre, Deal, on Wednesday 4 April.
Gordon Cowan, Labour Leader of the Opposition on Dover District Council, says: "The fact that Kent County Council has "found" some cash to put into a meeting of stakeholders to find out about Deal's flooding problems shows that even Kent's Conservatives can be embarrassed into action. Labour has been saying for years that the County Council needed to show that it was prepared to do its bit by clearing out the drains. They have at least started that process and now, I hope, we can stop the buck-passing and get on with having a sensible discussion with Southern Water."
Mike Eddy, Labour District Councillor for Mill Hill, Deal, says: "We have seen rivers running down Mill Hill in times of heavy rain. We have seen drain covers lifted and a fountain created in the middle of the road. And we have seen small lakes develop at the bottom of Mill Hill threatening homes and blocking roads. Across Deal we have seen similar flooding because the roadside gullies are choked with weeds and the drains are choked with muck. It may seem strange to talk about flooding as a hose-pipe ban starts but when rain comes it comes in short sharp bursts. We get the floods and the rain doesn't refill the aquifers."
Former Mayor of Deal and Labour Town Councillor for Middle Deal, Deryck Murray, has been a leading campaigner in the fight to get Deal's drains cleared and to limit surface flooding.
Deryck Murray says: "Sorting out Deal's surface flooding is important for all of us. It affects our insurance premiums, our health and the town's economy. And the Conservative District Council has now made the problem worse by giving permission for massive house-building on the flood- plain at Sholden. The meeting at the Landmark Centre is long overdue and I hope it will result in positive proposals. I would encourage everyone to report blocked drains to Kent County Council's Highways Services."
