Mayor asks for support to address the 'wrong sort of water'

The Mayor of Matlock, Lib Dem Councillor Steve Wain has hit out at the combined failure of central government, the Environment Agency and the County Council that has resulted in flooding in parts of Matlock for the fourth time in 30 months.

In an interview with Eddie Bisknell for Derbyshire Live Cllr Wain said "Boris came in November (2019) and did a lovely job of mopping up, but at the end of the day it has been forgotten and he has gone on to other things. It has happened three times since Boris has done that and three times people have had their shops underwater.

"I feel for these people. You should not have to go through that, we have the skills to do something and we can give loads of money out elsewhere."

Cllr Wain said the cause of this particular bout of flooding along extensive parts of Bakewell Road was run-off from the hills above the town and drains in the town centre being blocked. The River Derwent was running high but it was the run off that caused the flooding.in Bakewell Road. This was confirmed by the Environment Agency, with no properties said to have been affected by river water flooding. Its parent ministry said run-off rainfall water was the responsibility of the county council.

However Cllr Barry Lewis, Conservative Leader of Derbyshire County Council, responded by saying "It is no good pointing the finger."

He said the issues in Matlock town centre, around Crown Square, saw a congregation of flooding responsibility issues, which required a combined approach.

Cllr Lewis added: "Who knows what Defra do, they like other agencies are under a lot of pressure and people point at others when under strain, local authorities do the same thing from time to time.

"If Defra feel it is any one department's fault, in that sort of equation well they have a role to play in ensuring parties are talking to each other and are working together to get the problem solved."

However it would seem that the County Council are already indicating that they can afford to do very little unless the governement provides more funding. In county council papers to be discussed this week, the authority says "the council simply cannot continue to try and build bigger, higher and wider flood defences to protect property, as this is not sustainable".

Some radical rethinking (and quite a lot of money) is needed to ensure that this pattern of flooding is not repeated. It is unfortunate therefore that the situation might be made even worse if houses planned for green fields above Matlock are allowed to go ahead in the form indicated by the current Local Plan.