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Pitt Report

I welcome my right hon. Friend's commitment to ensuring that Gloucestershire is part of the pilot project on surface water. That will be welcomed by residents in Barton and Tredworth in my constituency, which were flooded at the weekend. May I also urge him to continue the work on flooding with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government? We know that removing Whaddon, which lies in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), from the regional spatial strategy, which is likely to be published in the coming days, will make a huge difference to surface water in Gloucester. That surface water has to go somewhere and at the moment it largely goes to that area in Whaddon.