Newark and Sherwood District Council Leader, Paul Peacock, says it’s time for action to look at the issue of flooding following Storm Henk

Following on the heels of Storm Babet, Storm Henk has brought more chaos to our District, writes Paul Peacock, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council.

This time, more homes have been affected with the ground already soaked to capacity and tributaries unable to flow into the Trent. On the day of the rains we saw issues with road closures and rising floodwaters affecting the whole district.

Once the rain stops, we’ve learnt to brace ourselves for the inevitable rising levels of the Trent itself. A multi-agency approach with the Emergency Services was set up and co-ordinated through the team at Castle House. Many officers and emergency workers abandoning New Year plans to return to work to help out.

I am so proud of how our communities, volunteers, residents, emergency services and District Council officers responded to the call for help. It’s easy to be cynical, but at times like these not all heroes wear capes, as the saying goes.

We now face more months of clean up and looking to Central Government for immediate help and support. As I write this, following the very early promises from MPs, including our own, we have seen confusion and a lack of detail behind the financial offers being made. After two weeks, we can now deliver the schemes, which should be live as you read this. The financial help is needed now, so the delays in getting it to the residents and businesses who need it is unacceptable. Rest assured we are working with other local districts and the County Council to keep the pressure on to ensure our residents get the help they need.

We have seen two ‘Once in a generation’ flooding events in our district in just 4 months. In my opinion, the time has come for co-ordinated action to mitigate against flooding events on the scale we have seen recently. This action cannot simply be to move the problem downstream; it must be a co-ordinated regional and national response to water management.

We as a District Council, will be maintaining pressure to see a joined-up approach to try and reduce the impact of these storms on any of our communities. Our waterways are an important part of our District’s heritage and history, and a useful resource. But we need them to be managed more sensitively, not just to protect our natural environment but also the homes and businesses of our people.

Please stay safe. Thank you to everyone who has stepped up in the community to help out and make sure residents who were cut off had the food, medicines and supplies they needed.