Tuesday 9th April 2002 |
DREDGING THE SEVERN AT LLANIDLOES |
| Llanidloes
residents are urging the Environment Agency to start dredging the River Severn
in a bid to tackle their regular flooding misery. They claim a build-up of gravel and silt under Long Lane Bridge is making the town's notorious flooding problems even worse. At a public meeting last night in Llanidloes Community Centre, chaired by Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Opik and attended by Mick Bates AM and representatives from the Environment Agency, Severn Trent and Powys County Council, frustrated flood victims got the chance to air their grievances. Mr Bates claimed the Environment Agency officials did not seem to understand the consequences of flooding. They had agreed though to an annual meeting to review flooding in the area, he added. They had also agreed to review the risk of flooding caused by a build-up of gravel in the river and report back by June. In the past, they have always maintained that gravel and silt made little impact on flooding. This point was disputed by Mr Bates. "They are hiding behind computer models that don't take into account changing rainfall patterns," he said. "I don't hold my breath because I've written to them about this twice before. But I'm hoping that in June they'll say they will actually drain the river." Llanidloes resident Edward Chapman, who has campaigned actively for action to alleviate flooding, said the agency should take more notice of the views of residents with local knowledge. He said high levels of water in the Llyn Clwyedog were causing increased levels of flooding in Llanidloes and further down the river in Shropshire. |
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