MAYOR JARVIS: MINISTERS MUST BACK SOUTH YORKSHIRE FLOODING RESPONSE PLAN

Published 12 August 2021 at 2:40pm

With Keir Starmer in South Yorkshire visiting communities hit by floods in November 2019, Mayor Dan Jarvis repeated calls for support to prevent future flooding. He said:

“Despite the Prime Minister’s promises during the 2019 General Election campaign, flood-hit communities in South Yorkshire have been forgotten by Government. More than a year on from the devastating floods, some families still haven’t been able to return home and have been forced to endure the pandemic living in caravans in front gardens. Since the floods, I have been fighting for families whose lives have been turned upside down, and pushed the Government for answers on how we can avoid a repeat of the devastation.

“In October, after months of letters and invitations, the Government finally hosted the much-anticipated flooding summit, a commitment made to me by the Prime Minister after the floods struck in November 2019. Last month, local leaders and I wrote to the Government, asking them to back our South Yorkshire Flooding Response Plan to protect homes and businesses in the Upper Don Valley from further damage in the future. We have committed £5.5 million of our own funds to help deliver this, but Ministers must now do the same so we can start work on nine shovel-ready flood defence schemes and put things right for our communities in South Yorkshire.”