Flood defence delay due to politics, says councillor

Severe flooding around the Thirsk and Helmsley areas is a major issue in the Tory stronghold of North Yorkshire.

The area has suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage in two flash floods from Cod Beck in the last seven years.

But a proposed Environment Agency study into possible flood defences on Cod Beck was halted owing to a lack of funds.

The Department for Rural Affairs provides the funding for the Environment Agency to do its work.

But the high demand for flood studies nationally was blamed for the delay, of at least three years, on the Cod Beck scheme.

This has led one North Yorkshire county councillor to claim the delay is really down to political games.

Coun Gareth Dadd, the Conservative member for Thirsk, says the region is being ignored owing to its political stance.

He said: "I want to see a flood defence scheme drawn up and put in place to protect the area.

"But I feel the Labour Government, for all of its rhetoric, has let the people in this town down and you have to question its political motives."

Prompt action is also wanted by the local politician, Anne McIntosh MP, the Tory member for the Vale of York.

She has asked the Environment Secretary, David Miliband, to look into the region's problems.

But a spokesman for the Department for the Environment said: "The Government has spent £4.5bn since 1996-7 on flood defence schemes.

"These schemes are in different areas of England and are done in order of priority and not by political stance.

"A funding criteria is used to look at social, environmental and economic benefits of a scheme."

Coun Jan Marshall, the Mayor of Thirsk and the only Labour member of Hambleton District Council, also disagreed.

She said: "Coun Dadd's comments, of course, don't hold water. York's scheme was also pushed back when it was already designed and ready to go and York has a Labour MP in Hugh Bayley.

"I am sure the staff of Defra and the Environment Agency are following the rules set down."