News/Flooding
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Heartbreak still lingers
More than 900 homes and busi- nesses in Tonbridge, Maidstone, Yalding, East Peckham and other rural communities were flooded fromthe Medway and its tributaries over Christmas 2013 – the worst flood in Yalding’s history. Some residents are still battling
Flood waters engulf Yalding village centre at Christmas 2013 Haunted over
‘when next?’ “A FEW bob and a bulldozer” could help lower the flood water levels in Yalding. The Medway, Teise and Beult
Flood Group believes that clearing the arches beneath each of the bridges between Yalding and Allington would increase their ca- pacity by between 25 and 30 per cent, loweringwater levels by half ametre. “It’s not much but it’s a contri-
bution – and it will keep some people dry. It’s cheap, it will cer- tainly help and all you need is a bulldozer.” The
amount of letters sent and re- ports writ- ten could themselves have been used to form a dam to hold back the water, ac- cording to Stephen Day (pic- tured), chairman of the flood group, who said: “These reports are now gathering dust while Yalding remains the most at-risk area, with the most home flooded. We are the plughole of the bathtub. “In 2000, we were promised a
lot of things; in 2007, Kent County Council said ‘lessons must be learned and it must not happen again’. After 2013, we saw more politicians of different colours in the village than ever before – even David Cameron promised Yalding protection, but nothing has been done. Flooding will happen again. It’s just a question of when.” Work on the LSAwas scheduled
to be completed in 2022 – almost a quarter of a century after im- provements were first promised – which means another seven win- ters of worry for the hundreds of householders in Yalding, Hunton and Collier Street.
8 Maidstone South July 2016 Picture: Keith Henson
with insurers over the cost of repairs; others still struggle to get flood in- surance, despite the introduction of Flood Re, a government-backed scheme supposed to guarantee a level playing field for all homeown- ers in flood-prone areas.
Action group comes up with its own flood plan
WITH various options on the table, members of Maidstone council believe improvements to the Leigh barrier and the creation of a new storage area on the river Beult still offer the best possible solution against flooding. But there is no cast-iron guaran-
tee that Yalding will be safe in the future.
Frustrated residents have taken matters into their own hands, form- ing the Medway, Beult and Teise Flood
Group.At the group’s recent AGM,memberswere told that Kent County Council leader Cllr Paul Carter had categorically assured the money would be found and the scheme would go ahead. In the meantime, the group has
come up with a three-point interim protection plan – to include clearing the blocked-up arches of the bridges along the Medway and shifting silt at the confluence of the Beult and the Medway.
PM David Cameron is confronted by a Yalding resident in December 2013 on a visit to survey the flood damage
But the Environment Agency’s
area strategic planning engineer, Neil Gunn, revealed that even a radical £95m proposal to widen the Medway along its entire length from Yalding to Maidstone would still not prevent flooding in the cen- tre of Yalding village. A widening scheme, with impli- cations for two ancient bridges, two locks, six miles of railway track and with massive earth excavation,
would still only lower floodwater levels in the centre of Yalding by 20cm, claimed Mr Gunn. Increasing the storage capacity at
Leigh from 5.5 to 8.8million cubic metres would prevent flooding in Tonbridge and Hildenborough, but only reduce levels in East Peckham by 4cm. Adding the recommended flood
prevention measures to the Beult and the Teise would reduce levels by 11cm in the centre of Collier Street – and by 40cm in Yalding. At Christmas 2013, some house- holders found themselves more than 100cm deep inwater. Mr Gunn said: “Whateverwe do,
Yalding will still flood. No flood management scheme will prevent all flooding – not even spending £95m on widening the river. “While the water levels will vary
from one point to another, the vast majority of the centre of Yalding would still flood.”
KCC looking to ‘all sectors’ for funding continued from page one
on the table and said ‘what are you going to do, Tonbridge and Malling Council and Maidstone Council, to supplement that?’ “I have always said the public
sector must come together. Any suggestion we are – or that I am – reneging on the people of Yalding is utter rubbish.” Cllr Carter said it would be im- possible to invest in the full range of schemes ‘concocted’ by the EA, but said: “My comment to the res- idents of Yalding is that we want to make sure that our money helps and supports Yalding as far as that money can go, alongside others’ contributions.” Growth fund allocations need a
business connection – whichwould help Tonbridge, but not Yalding. Meetings have taken place be-
tween Cllr Carter, the cabinet mem- ber for environment, Matthew Balfour, and senior officers and members of both Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling councils. A meeting between Helen Grant
MP and the EA was due to take place as Downs Mailwent to press. The findings of a £1m study, de-
tailing three main options for flood risk reduction and a combination of options, were first presented to KCC in January. They are still being debated be-
hind closed doors but the Downs Mail understands KCC is now con- sidering spending a fraction of the
funds promised – and only on indi- vidual house protection projects in Yalding. Both Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone councils have been given the choice to ‘take it or leave it’.
“It is becoming more and more evident that KCC is not going to come up with the money”, said a source. “They are looking to fund the
lowest-cost option – such as indi- vidual house protection – and are looking to Maidstone and Ton- bridge councils, as well as the parishes, to come up with a contri- bution. It would, perhaps, be true to say that KCC is welching on the original deal.”
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