ARichTeaBiscuit: Government Action on Flooding Pledges is Needed

Just a few weeks ago I wrote a short article expressing the need for legislation to bring us together, as time and time again we've seen parliament become a slogging match between varying sides of the political spectrum, and as we head closer and closer to the next general election I believe it is even more important to showcase that politicians from across the political spectrum can come together to support legislation in the national interest.

In the past few days, we've seen such an example with B1048, the Gender Recognition (Reform) Bill receiving well-deserved support from people across the political spectrum, and I have received emails and spoken to members of my constituency in Merseyside showcasing their support for such cooperation on important matters.

It is with some disappointment, however, that I note that the other case that I wrote about at the same time that had the potential to unify parliamentarians from across the political spectrum hasn't been put forward, as despite being mentioned in the Queen's speech this Conservative government hasn't outlined how it intends to protect communities from flooding.

In the course of my political career, I have talked with quite a few people in communities that are at risk from flooding, and I understand that politicians from across the political field have spoken about the importance of ensuring that these portions of our country are protected from flooding, so I have no doubts that any well-written legislation or document that would work towards increasing protections for at-risk communities would be well-received by all, however, as we head closer towards the general election we haven't seen any movement from the government in this area.

I grew up in a coastal community in Essex that historically suffered from flooding until changes were made to the local river system, so I was quite hopeful that the government would put forward a proposal that would accept the growing support around the idea of natural defences, such as leaky wooden dams and heather bale dams and restoring natural meanders and breakaways, techniques to slow down the flow of the river and focus flooding in regions that can be flooded without damaging local communities further upstream, and I was also interested in how artificial methods such as flood barriers would be constructed in a manner that simply doesn't move the problem upstream as we've seen during past phases of flood defence construction.

I was also hopeful that this government would also rule out the dredging of rivers as part of any strategy to prevent flooding, as part of the process of preventing flooding is on slowing the flow of the river which can be achieved by restoring natural meanders or adding artificial ones to rivers, and by increasing the area which can be flooded safely through marshland, dry ponds and high absorption plantlife all of which is directly hampered by increasing the flow of a river via dredging, however, I haven't been able to see that because as of this moment the government hasn't released a strategy to prevent flooding.

It is quite disappointing that as of yet this government hasn't fulfilled their promise to provide assurances to communities that remain at risk from flooding or even released details on such a scheme before parliament, and I certainly hope that this is a situation that is remedied before the end of this parliamentary term.

ARichTeaBiscuit is the Leader of the Opposition. The views expressed in this article are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the Independent.