Council review of Tenbury flood plan imminent (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Council review of Tenbury flood plan imminent

8:00am Friday 1st February 2013 in News By Adrian Kibbler

A PROJECT plan to secure funding for a flood defence scheme in Tenbury will be put before the town council on Monday, February 4.

It follows a floods summit to try to find a breakthrough in the log jam that has left the town without flood defences, after Environment Agency chiefs ruled that the benefits do not justify the £5 million price tag.

Harriett Baldwin the MP for West Worcestershire confirmed that progress had been made during a summit to identify a way to bring permanent flood defences to Tenbury.

The MP met with representatives from the town, district and county councils as well the environment agency to discuss the issue.

She also questioned environment secretary Owen Paterson on available funding for permanent flood defences for the town.

He visited the county earlier this month to celebrate the successful Upton flood schemes and in the House of Commons he confirmed that he was willing to consider fresh plans for Tenbury’s defences.

The summit group agreed to draft a strategic plan to solve this long-standing problem and the town council will discuss this at their next meeting.

However, it will be some time before people in the town can relax when heavy rain falls and river levels rise.

“The challenge of protecting the town from floods will not be solved overnight, but I hope that if everyone can work together to develop a strate g y, then we can make progress,” said Mrs Baldwin.