Planning to Prevent Flooding

Liberal Democrats are proposing a six point action plan to tackle Surrey's flooding. The proposals aim to reduce the impact of future heavy rain by putting in place preventative measures.     They are:

1. Complete and update Surrey's currently outdated records on where flooding occurs (wetspots) and the Flooding Asset Register of walls, ditches and bridges which are known to cause flooding.
2. Increase the cleaning of gullies (road drains) which is currently usually only once a year.
3. Plant trees, particularly on high ground. An environmentally friendly way of trapping and slowing down the movement of water.
4. Work with districts and boroughs not to build on flood plains.
5. Repair flood damaged roads and bridges.
6. Apply for funding from central government and the European Union.

Stephen Cooksey said: "These actions if implemented by Surrey will make a real difference to prevent the flooding in the future. "The recent floods have had a devastating effect on many residents and businesses. Everything possible must be done to reduce the risk of this recurring. "The Conservative administration has taken its eye off the ball and has not given enough priority to flood prevention. Basic things are very out of date, for example its record of places where flooding occurs 'wetspots' hasn't been updated for two years. "Similarly Surrey's Flooding Asset Register, in which it is legally required to record details of walls, ditches or bridges known to cause flooding is woefully incomplete, only recording 65 items for the whole county, and is out of date having last been updated over two years ago. "Surrey urgently needs to get its act together, update its information on flooding and structures that cause flooding before assessing what needs to be done to prevent flooding in the future and to calculate the cost of doing so. "I question the adequacy of Surrey's policy of only cleaning out gullies at least once a year, this clearly needs to be increased as many of Surrey's gullies are blocked, which then causes flooding. In addition needs to review its ditches policy in rural areas to help prevent flooding. "Whilst Surrey's staff, the emergency services and other agencies have done an excellent job in responding to this crisis, much could have been done to lessen the impact of the recent bad weather if Surrey had taken preventative action, and lessons need to be learnt and acted upon to ensure the effects of future heavy rainfall is reduced."