Green Councillors Report

We were deeply distressed to see our area, once again, ravaged by flooding. Last year the Lead Flood Authority and the Environment Agency began a review into the causes of the repeated floods. We desperately need these answers now, if we are to know how best to protect our communities. As your Borough councillors, we have been doing all we can over the past year. We take very seriously the mandate that we were given when elected and despite the challenges we are determined to use our position to continue to fight for better on your behalf.
Letters have been written to hold the various agencies to account, including Leicestershire County Council Cabinet Member for Flooding, local MP’s, Environment Agency, Severn Trent Water, Local Flood Authority and the Government’s Parliamentary Floods Minister.
We supported communities and flood wardens on the day of the flooding by liaising with Charnwood to get sandbags to those who couldn’t access them or whose supplies had been exhausted. Many areas were cut off meaning this help could not get to them. To try and prevent this from happening again, we have secured funding for flood equipment and storage that can be held and accessed by each village flood warden.
We have also been supporting residents to repair their homes, access help, find alternative accommodation and pushed for a speedy clean up. Special waste collections became available within the first few days. Charnwood Borough Council are calling on Government to extend the Grants Scheme which gave financial support to residents directly affected by flooding in 2023/24.
We are also writing to planners/developers for all the new housing applications, to challenge the current drainage plans. It is our opinion that they are based on old data which is no longer accurate when we are having ‘once in a lifetime’ events, almost yearly. Any drainage plans must be built to cope with this new normal and extreme weather.
We have also been asking that more can be done to ensure existing drainage ponds are working as they should and are properly maintained. We routinely report blocked drains, gulleys and watercourses to the councils and agencies responsible for their maintenance.
Volunteers, flood wardens and local support groups have been doing a fantastic job and we’d like to extend our sincerest thanks to them.
However the agencies with flooding responsibilities now need to tell us how they will keep people and homes safe. We will continue to speak up for you, and press for major action.