19 September 2017
*Green councillors instrumental in introducing natural flood defences
*Amelia Womack, Green Party deputy leader: “Successful flood prevention means working with nature, not covering it in concrete”
Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack will visit Stroud today where natural flood defences [1] have helped reduce flood risk, 10 years after the severe summer floods of 2007 [2].
Green councillors Simon Pickering and Sarah Lunnon [3] have championed natural flood management and helped introduce the successful Stroud Rural Sustainable Drainage (RSuDS) project [4]. The council is working with farmers and landowners to restore natural drainage and increase water quality and biodiversity around the River Frome.
Womack’s visit is the first of a series across England, where she will highlight the link between flooding and climate change and campaign for investment in natural flood prevention measures.
Amelia Womack, Green Party deputy leader, said:
“Floods are devastating for communities – they destroy our homes and belongings, damage our economy and disrupt our daily lives. Without serious action to tackle climate change, the floods we face every winter are only going to get worse.
“I’m looking forward to visiting Stroud to see all the hard work our Green councillors have done to prevent the needless destruction caused by floods. Successful long-term flood prevention means working with nature, not covering it in concrete. As the Stroud Green Party have demonstrated, with the right approach we can save our communities from floods while helping wildlife and cleaning up our rivers too.
“What Stroud’s councillors have done offer us a blueprint for the future. The only way to create a truly resilient flood management system is to work with the natural world, not against it by building concrete defences. I’d invite any one of our ministers responsible for dealing with the rising threat Britain faces from flooding to visit Stroud and learn from their example.”
Notes:
- https://www.stroud.gov.uk/environment/flooding-and-drainage/stroud-rural-sustainable-drainage-rsuds-project/natural-flood-management
- https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/who/how/case-studies/summer-2007
- Simon Pickering is chair of the Environment Committee on Stroud District Council and Sarah Lunnon is a former Gloucestershire County councillor who now sits on Stroud Town Council.
- https://www.stroud.gov.uk/environment/flooding-and-drainage/stroud-rural-sustainable-drainage-rsuds-project
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