MP's flood warning

The Government s targets for house building in Sussex could lead to more flooding, Wealden MP Charles Hendry said in a House of Commons debate this week.

He told the Environment Minister Elliott Morley that the volume of homes proposed for the Lewes and Uckfield areas would mean building on flood plains.

Mr Hendry said: 'The lesson that we most need to learn from our experience is that we cannot continue building at the rate at which we have in the past.

'I welcome the tightening of planning guidance in planning policy guidance 25 but the Government must also review the number of houses that they want built in the South East.

'Reduction

'Many areas such as my constituency and Lewes cannot accommodate the number of houses that the Government suggest without building on flood plains. I therefore urgently request the Government to review that figure and reduce it.

Mr Hendry covered a wide range of issues during the debate on flooding dangers. He said that some of his constituents were still not back in their homes after last October s disaster.

He voiced the concerns of many in the Uckfield and Lewes areas that a decision on flood defence work is taking so long to achieve.

'A year on, there is frustration bordering on anger in towns such as Uckfield that so little has been done. A great deal of investigation has been carried out into the sort of projects that the Environment Agency could undertake. Some ditches have been cleared and some minor repair works carried out, but no major scheme has been started or seems likely to be started for some years.

'The Minister will know that the Environment Agency has proposed four schemes, on which it is consulting. There is a general wish that it should skip the consultation process because those in the agency are the experts; they know best. Members of the public do not have real views on the issue. We should move as fast as possible to get these schemes implemented.

'There is a suspicion, which I know the Minister will understand, that the driving force behind the schemes is not that they are the best method of preventing flooding but those that are most financially acceptable for the Treasury.

He asked for an assurance from Mr Morley that his Department would support whatever scheme the Environment Agency came up with, even if it was the most expensive.

Mr Hendry also drew attention to concerns over insurance cover for those at risk from flooding, mentioning in particular low-lying businesses in Uckfield.

He acknowledged that the Minister, and Lewes MP Norman Baker, had been having discussions with the Association of British Insurers, but asked: 'If we cannot secure agreement from the ABI that it will look benignly on insurance cover for properties in flood areas, will the Minister consider the sort of scheme that the Government recently agreed with the airline industry, albeit in different circumstances, to accommodate the significant additional insurance costs that it has incurred?

'The hon. gentleman might be able to assist companies that are unable to get flood insurance, thereby helping them stay in business.

'NOT EASY

Replying, Mr Morley said flood defence schemes must be consulted on.

'We have to take into account the effects that any scheme might have on other parts of the watercourse. Solutions are not easy in some parts of the country, such as Uckfield.

'However, I am sure that we can find cost-effective solutions that will work. We have commissioned catchment area studies, which will report on the Uckfield area in the beginning of 2002.

'All operating authorities have also been asked to publish policy statements to set out the responsibilities for watercourses and drains, and plans for their maintenance.