Andrew is Vice Chairman of the Lower Aire Flood Action Group which is battling the Environment Agency's River Aire Flood Catchment Plan which proposes to increase flooding in the lower Aire plain (Snaith, Rawcliffe and Airmyn area) to provide flood protection to West Yorkshire.
The flood plan is presently being redrafted by the Environment Agency following strong opposition from local residents to the plan. The original plan proposed increasing flooding in our area but did not say clearly where this would be or what form it would take. Andrew tackled the Environment Agency at a meeting in Selby in August and expressed the concerns local residents have about this plan.
Left: Andrew and Snaith, Airmyn and Rawcliffe Ward Cllr Caroline Fox after tackling the Environment Agency in Selby.
The East Riding of Yorkshire Council has also come out strongly against the plan. We oppose the plan because we believe it will -
- Have a negative impact on the local economy due to the increased flood risk.
- Damage house prices and make it far more difficult to get home insurance.
- Lead to the loss of major transport links during periods of flooding.
- Sacrifice our community for the benefit of West Yorkshire.
- Create serious and expensive health and emergency planning issues locally.
The Flood Action Group is continuing to gather signatures for our petition against the flood plan. Whilst the Environment Agency have accepted that some of the wording used in the plan has caused alarm, we are still concerned about the exact intentions of the EA. That is why we are continuing to gather signatures. If you would like to sign our petition please do so below.
The plan can be viewed at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/aire_cfmp_web_1739692.pdf
Petition
We the undersigned object to the Environment Agency's Lower Aire Catchment Flood Management Plan which would increase flooding in the Lower Aire region.
We believe that the proposals do not offer enough safeguards to residential areas and could cause serious health and emergency planning issues in our area. We further believe that the plan would have a negative impact on house prices and the availability of house insurance and damage the local economy.