As I write this there is a pause in the torrential rain that has been falling for the best part of a month.
However, there must be no let up in asking searching questions about the viability of Crawley’s flood defences.
In particular the spotlight falls on what has gone wrong on the western side of town beyond Ifield. As in 2008 the river Mole burst its banks and once again the Gables nursing home was flooded and vulnerable elderly people were evacuated by the emergency services.
Yes we have been here before.Unfortunately the plans for a comprehensive Crawley flood protection scheme which were made following the floods of winter 2007-08 have not been fully implemented.
A missing part is flood protection work beyond Ifield.
This essential action has been the victim of huge funding cuts made by the Conservative led Government to the Environment Agency. Between 2009-10 and 2015-16 spending on flood defence maintenance is set to fall by £65m in real terms and on capital projects such as the Tilgate lake dam, by £35m. That is a very worrying state of affairs.
The recent flooding in Crawley not only had disastrous local consequences for residents but also national ones when it contributed to problems for Christmas travellers at Gatwick’s North terminal. Therefore I hope readers would agree with Labour that now is not the time for the Government to be encouraged to think that things are not too bad in the Crawley-Gatwick area after all.
It is worrying that Henry Smith our Conservative Member of Parliament is recorded on 6th January in Hansard the official record of Parliament, asking the relevant Government Minister to ‘ join me in recognising that, were it not for the significant capital investment in the Environment Agency’s scheme at Tilgate lake…the flooding in my constituency could have been a lot worse.’
To which unsurprisingly the minister replied, ‘ I am delighted to hear the flood scheme worked effectively and his constituents will be among those in the 1 million properties that were protected during this difficult period.’ This was a wasted opportunity to emphasise to the Government firmly just how urgent it is to complete Crawley’s flood defences by doing the delayed work at Ifield. Labour councillors have already been and will continue to press hard for action. We can do better than this.