Petition to improve flood defences in Bedford

A petition calling for improvements to be made to flood defences in Bedford has received hundreds of signatures.

The petition was submitted at Full Council on Wednesday, January 13, by Conservative councillor Jim Weir on behalf of residents from all across the borough.

The petition thanks all the volunteers and staff for their hard work during the Christmas flood and asks for a review in relation to the flood preparation and asks what needs to be done to attempt to stop future flooding.

It also calls on Bedford Borough Council to make recommendations and provide clear guidance on which body is responsible for carrying out these actions.

Thirdly, the petition asks Bedford Borough Council to hold the Environment Agency to account on how they spending Bedford taxpayer’s money to protect residents from future flooding, and lastly to work with local community groups to ensure local knowledge and best practise is used in managing floods.

Cllr Jim Weir is now asking those who have signed the petition for their comments to submit to Full Council on Wednesday, February 3, and you can send your comments to the group researcher Stephen Vallance at [email protected].

Great Denham Councillor Jim Weir said: “A number of villages such as Turvey, Harrold and Oakley were badly affected by flooding over Christmas 2020.

"The day after this petition was submitted to Full Council a number of villages experienced flooding again from the river, surface water run off and local brooks, which has led to water coming into people’s homes and certain roads being flooded again.

"This just shows what a serious matter this is.

"We believe its right to thank officers for all their hard work to date, but also to note that keeping flooding at bay is an ongoing issue and we as a council can’t rest on our laurels."

Conservative Group Deputy Leader, Cllr Roger Rigby, added: "The petition was only started late on Sunday and the number of signatures gathered in a short period of time shows that this is very important to residents.”

Click here to sign the petition.

Read: Forty houses affected by Christmas flooding in BedfordRead: Council working on ‘lessons learned’ review following Christmas flooding in Bedford