Following recent heavy rain, and ahead of further heavy rain forecast, Edward has been in Sileby and in Syston to see the impacts of recent rainfall, and has called on the Environment Agency to meet with him in the coming weeks to discuss progress on measures to reduce flood risks locally.
Both Sileby and Syston, along with other local villages, have suffered from flooding in recent years, and Edward has been working for many months alongside local Councils, and local residents in pressing the Environment Agency, and other public bodies to take further steps to reduce flood risk locally. He has previously joined calls for the EA to step in and clear Barkby Brook in Syston to remove blockages, aiming for work to take place later this year; to keep the brook in Sileby clear of silt, and to improve flood warning systems. Alongside this, Edward has called for local councils to focus more on flood risk when considering new developments.
Edward said: “Ahead of the forecast heavy rain, I was out and about in Sileby and Syston, and calling on the Environment Agency to meet with me locally to update me and local people on what progress has been made since the flooding at the start of the year. There is no one single thing that will solve the problem, and flood risk always remains when there are exceptionally high levels of heavy rainfall as throughout this year, but there are steps that can be, and are being, taken to help reduce the risk of flooding and its impact on local people.
Its important that everyone continues to work together to tackle flooding locally, and I want to pay tribute to everyone involved, especially our local Flood Wardens, for the work to reduce flood risk, and I look forward to an update on progress from the Environment Agency.”
