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Flooding (Northumberland)

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, to which I shall return in a moment. Drain and culvert maintenance is very important. I was discussing what the Environment Agency must do in a number of areas. In the Rothbury and Coquetdale areas, I want it to engage with local people to discuss how to reduce the flood risk. Work being done on the Coplish burn will not, by itself, be enough and, because of access difficulties, even that is not certain to be completed. There needs to be a public meeting at which the agency must explain and discuss the options that could be pursued, by extending the floodplain in upstream areas, for example. Local councillor, Stephen Bridgett, and I feel that such a discussion with local people is urgently needed. The Environment Agency needs to be similarly open with the people of the Ingram valley. I share their anger that action that could have reduced the damage and the risk has previously been resisted by the agency on the grounds that the river would not pose the very dangers that we faced in September. The agency sent me a letter in October 2005, when I took up a demand for some work to be done, in which it stated:"““We refused consent for the works…on the grounds that the works would cause too much environmental damage. We have monitored the situation over the last 2 years and see no indication of rapid erosion, in fact the section of river appears to be naturally stabilising.””" That very section of river went from being 50 m from property to just a few feet away during the floods, so, in refusing consent for works, the agency had wrongly anticipated the situation. The agency has to take account of all sorts of issues, which results in local residents feeling that the interests of fish are taking priority over the homes and livelihoods of those who live and work in the valley. Not far away, in Powburn, where there has been serious flooding, there is a belief that the massive landslip, which has closed the A697, prevented the flooding of the village from being even worse. When the road has been rebuilt—that cannot happen soon enough for the people in Glanton, because all the diverted traffic goes through it—it will need to incorporate some method of retaining floodwater in the dene, located between the road and the railway track, so that water does not overwhelm the village. The situation is curious, because people in the village, who are cut off from the south by a landslide, say, ““Thank goodness for the landslide—it could have been even worse but for that.”” We need carefully to examine alternative measures once the road is reinstated. In the Till valley, older flood defences have been pierced to protect homes, which seemed to work, but agriculture and local businesses, such as the Fenton centre, paid a high price. Tourist businesses such as the Heatherslaw railway and the café were hit hard. The flooding of one group of recently built properties at Canno Mill, Kirknewton, was no surprise. The Environment Agency had objected to planning permission in 2004 because the development was on a floodplain. That is a clear warning for the future. The future flood strategy for the Till and its tributaries needs wide public discussion. One vital but neglected part of flood defences in many areas—and here I return to the point made by the hon. Member for Wansbeck—is the clearing of burns and culverts of obstructions that cause floodwater to build up quickly. That was highly relevant in Belford and Netherton, and the hon. Gentleman points out that it was also relevant in Hepscot. It is a local council responsibility, not the Environment Agency's, and its importance should be more fully recognised. It is an especially challenging task in large rural authorities and it needs to be recognised in the funding formula. We have long-standing arguments about the funding formula as it affects Northumberland and the particular rural challenges that the county faces. I turn now to the help that communities need. There has been some good, practical help from a wide range of authorities and agencies, both to householders and, in some cases, to business. DEFRA and the Environment Agency were proving very difficult over the disposal of the large number of animal carcases, refusing permission for local burial. However, One NorthEast stepped in to fund an emergency fallen stock disposal scheme, and farmers were grateful for that, but they still face huge drying costs and uninsurable crop losses. The Government have the Bellwin system in place to fund local authorities up to 85 per cent. of non-insurance covered costs. For small authorities such as Castle Morpeth and Alnwick, there is a particularly strong case for the 100 per cent. help that some authorities received last year, and Northumberland, where its new administration has inherited a very difficult financial situation, faces a severe challenge that merits similar help. Warkworth harbour at Amble is a small tourist port, serving the fishing industry and the leisure boating community. The harbour is very popular with anglers, visitors and local people who like to walk on the harbour wall. The floods had a destructive impact on the harbour. The river bed was scoured out by the volume of water and that also led to the washing away of the infill material behind the harbour wall. There is one section where the piles for the wall do not reach down to the rock, and in that section the wall has slipped down, tearing holes in the popular walkway along the top. The situation has been exacerbated by the discovery that the damage is not covered by the insurance for the harbour. Costs of several thousands of pounds have already been incurred on emergency stabilisation works, and engineers are deciding what needs to be done as the next step. There are some funds for the works in the dredging reserves, but there will be a need for grant funding from DEFRA and other bodies that usually help to finance dredging operations. It is not clear how that money will be accessed or whether it can be obtained. Harbour income is very small. In the old days, it was a busy coal port, but that has long since ceased. The infrastructure of the harbour remains vital for the fishing community, the leisure boating businesses and the flood protection of the town of Amble. I ask the Minister to give urgent consideration to that problem and the others that I have raised. She may be able to give me some answers tonight, as I gave her prior notice of the points that I intended to make. However, other issues—such as the Amble harbour situation—will require discussion with other parts of the Department. I look forward to hearing from her once she has had those discussions. I stress again the devastating impact of the floods in Northumberland and how important it is that we have help in putting the county back on its feet.