'I'll be dead before anything happens' - Shropshire floods campaigner laments wait for action and calls for more investment at Westminster
A flooding activist and businesswoman who has been flooded 20 times since 1998 has called for more help at a national audit committee.
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Shrewsbury Flood Action Group chair Siobhan Connor was invited by the town’s MP Julia Buckley to give oral evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) at the Palace of Westminster.
The county town has been beset by flooding woes in recent years, particularly in Coleham and around the town centre. Ironbridge and Bridgnorth also face devastating floods on a regular basis.
Siobhan, who lives in Shrewsbury town centre, had submitted written evidence in January, including stories from the flooded residents and businesses of Shropshire.
She said: “Evidence I’ve had working with flooded people shows that communities are resilient with every measure in place including barriers, pumps, non return valves, white goods higher up and it is failing us, because we are still flooding.
“Sticking plaster interventions like Property Flood Resilience (PFR) are not sustainable, we need more than this. More investment in a bigger plan that tackles flooding on a wide scale, not just measures a community can do for themselves.”
To get to the root of the issue and identify how to boost England’s flood resilience, the EAC launched an inquiry in December last year. With the effects of man-made climate change making flooding events more likely, MPs are hoping to understand how authorities are tackling flooding events, what measures are needed to future proof against flooding and what support is needed by householders and businesses to boost their own resilience.
The EAC is tasked with examining the strengths of nature-based solutions versus hard infrastructure as resilience assets, whether current metrics for monitoring flooding events before they happen are working effectively, and what the Flood Resilience Taskforce should prioritise.
Toby Perkins MP, the EAC chair who visited Shrewsbury to discuss flooding last year, said: “Flooding causes anger, frustration and misery for too many communities, with people asking time and again why the same places continue to be hit. Homes, businesses, public transport, infrastructure: all are at the mercy of flooding exacerbated by climate change.
“Our committee is determined to get to the bottom of whether enough is being done to build our nation’s flood resilience. We’re committed to examining how we can boost flood defences and to uncover if flood management authorities are working effectively together.”
Mrs Buckley and Cameron Thomas MP, who are both members of the committee, said: “In our constituencies of Shrewsbury and Tewkesbury, the threat of flooding is a year-long concern. Our own constituents live with the prospect of flooding throughout the year, and regularly suffer its devastating impacts. This recurring issue threatens livelihoods, destroys belongings and leaves families in despair.
“As policymakers, we must do all we can to ensure flood management structures are fit for purpose, in the present and for the future.
Siobhan Connor raised her frustration at seeing more demonstrator projects for the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS).
“There is an initiative going on in my area to work on the confluence of the Severn to instate multi-initiatives which include Natural Flood Management on a large catchment basis,” she said.
“The SVWMS has been allocated money to go towards yet more demonstrator projects for the scheme and what will happen in the meantime, we keep flooding and I’ll be dead before anything happens. Nothing has happened, there is no spade in the ground, we seem to just have small demonstrators all over the place that aren’t achieving any resilience for people. This is an unexceptional wait while you repeatedly flood and there is no support for these communities from government.”
