Mayor slammed over 'poor communication' during flooding across Bedford

Bedford’s mayor has been slammed over poor communication during the recent heavy rains and flooding.

Mayor Tom Wootton passed on vital information on road closures and prevention actions to fellow Conservative cabinet members but, according to councillors, failed to inform other council members until three days later when the heaviest rain had subsided.

Councillors also say they were disappointed to see that none of the electronic flood signs installed by the council and used for the heavy floods in December 2020 were in use during the recent flooding.

Councillor Jon Abbott, who represents Clapham & Oakley Ward where high levels of flooding occurred, told a meeting of the full council on Wednesday: “I would like to praise the hard work of officers during the recent flooding that occurred right across Bedford borough, for the support that they gave to local residents and businesses, particularly the highways team for coming and emptying the blocked drain under the Lovell Road Railway bridge between Oakley and Clapham.

“I also know Cllr Leigh Coombs was closely involved with supporting his residents during recent flooding when water supply was cut off – including arranging for basic facilities to be made available free of charge at our leisure centres – and I would like to thank Joanna Szaub-Newton and Cllr Vann who came out to look at some of the flooding in Clapham and Oakley just a few days ago.

“But I am left wondering why Executive Members were privy to updates on flooding from the evening of Tuesday, January 2, including the latest flood alerts, but the first update to other elected members didn’t arrive until the afternoon of Friday, January 5 when the Borough had already been inundated with water for three days?

“During the flooding that occurred at Christmas 2020 all members were briefed and kept informed of what was happening across the Borough. Did the Mayor not feel this information should have been shared with members prior to Friday?”

Mayor Wootton said he’d earlier apologised about the way the flooding issue was handled, adding: “Every day is a learning day and you don’t get everything right. We tried our hardest. I didn’t actually know the council sent out flood warnings like this by email. Having been a councillor only for about 20 years I never had these sort of warnings.”

A Bedford Borough Council spokesperson said: “The electronic flood signs were not used on this occasion due to power issues during the event. However, these flood signs are in addition to the council officially closing these roads with physical signage at each causeway. The council also shares messaging regarding these closures on social media, when possible, to raise awareness further.

“Bedford Borough Council is currently undertaking an internal review into the use of the electronic flood signs.”

See video of the meeting here.