Julian holds flooding meeting in Acaster Malbis
October 15, 2016
Julian recently organised a meeting for residents of Acaster Malbis as part of his ongoing campaign to ensure communities across York Outer get the flooding protection they need.
The meeting was held on Friday 30th September, and kindly hosted at the Ship Inn in Moor End (a business that only reopened in March this year after being badly damaged in last December’s flooding). The village has suffered from persistent flooding issues, with Hauling Lane and Acaster Lane towards Bishopthorpe prone to flooding. The December 2015 floods also saw the several properties besides the pub flooded out and badly damaged, and blocked drains continue to concern residents.
Julian invited City of York Council’s Flood Risk Manager, and representatives from Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency, who have responsibility for maintaining flood defences and the river banks, to ensure residents could hear from the full range of agencies with flood defence responsibilities, and have their views heard. Julian wrote to all local residents inviting them to attend, and the meeting was well attended, with around fifty people turning up to make their views known and receive an update on flooding preparations for the area.
As a result of this discussion, City of York Council, Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency all went away with a number of points to address related to their respective responsibilities. In response to residents’ concerns about riverbank maintenance and discussion on whether the Environment Agency has sufficient funds to undertake this more frequently, Julian pledged to raise this at Westminster with Ministers from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Julian said “I am very glad this meeting took place with such a comprehensive panel. It is essential that local communities in places like Acaster Malbis have their views on flood risk listened to, and are actively engaged in setting priorities for flooding strategy.
I am planning to hold a follow up meeting in the next few months to report back to residents on the progress that has been made, and will keep lobbying the government to ensure York gets the flood protection it needs”.
