FLOOD DEFENCE CAMPAIGNERS IN LONDON

Flood defence campaigners are making their way to Whitehall today.

They will leave Lewes this morning (June 5) to hand in a petition at No 11 Downing Street, home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

Lewes MP, Norman Baker, will be with the campaigners in London.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Local Lib Dem MP, Norman Baker, will be joined by members of Lewes Flood Action and the National Flood Forum to hand in thousands of letters to the Chancellor from people demanding for more funding for flood defences.

More than 2000 people, mostly from Lewes, have signed letters addressed to the Chancellor highlighting the fact that the government's own National Assessment of Needs for Flood Defences predicts that the current level of funding will fall short of what is required by 700m over the next 10 years.

The letters call on the Treasury to increase investment in flood defences in real terms to ensure that the devastation caused in Lewes and elsewhere by the floods in 2000 is not allowed to happen again.

Mr Baker will be meeting with Treasury Minister, John Healey, next week, in his capacity as Vice Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Flood Prevention Group, to discuss the petition and press for more funding for flood defences.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Baker's Early Day Motion calling on the Treasury to respond to the predicted shortfall has now received cross-party support from 64 MPs.

Commenting on the petition, Norman Baker says:

"Over two thousand local people have signed letters addressed to the Chancellor. They understand it is the size of the cake that is the problem, not the division of it. That is why the real problem lies with the Treasury, not with DEFRA or the Environment Agency.

"In 2000 after the terrible floods the government said that they had had a wake-up call. Yet years on, we still have large swathes of Lewes unprotected. This is simply not good enough. It is clear that the Treasury is simply not allocating sufficient resources to this area. If the Chancellor can find 6bn for a war in Iraq he can surely find 700 m for proper flood defences for people across the UK.

"Given the terrible effects of global warming, which were witnessed in the USA when Hurricane Katrina hit, the government must surely realise that the long-term cost of not funding comprehensive flood defences will far exceed that of funding them. It is very important that we keep up the pressure on the government and this is why I am delighted I am being joined by Lewes Flood Action and the National Flood Forum to hand in the petition to No.11 and why I will be following the matter through next week with the Treasury Minister, John Healey."