Residents anger at flood snub
08:31 - 22-August-2008
Daniels Brook flooded five times between June 2007 and March 2008. Yet it is has been left off a list of places which will receive funding.
Residents wanted a culvert to be upgraded to cope in periods of heavy rainfall. But they've been told that the work needed will not be done in this financial year
The money is made up of contributions from Gloucestershire County Council, five district councils and the Environment Agency who all submitted projects to the county council's Future Resilience Programme Board.
Karen Voyce, founder of Tuffley Flood Committee (TFC), said: "We're angry and appalled. To make matters even worse Brookthorpe and Whaddon has been defined in the Regional Spatial Strategy for development which would all drain into Daniels Brook at the detriment of existing houses downstream."
Mum-of-two Juliet Williams, of Bodiam Avenue, said: "We had to move out of our house for seven months. People don't realise the effect being flooded has on your life. My son's GCSE results may not be as good as we expected."
Parmjit Dhanda, MP for Gloucester, said: "Earlier this year I hosted a meeting for residents who live close to Daniels Brook. Over 150 turned up. I had hoped that we had got across to the powers that be that this area is very vulnerable and the community there really did need help and assistance."
A Gloucester City Council spokeswoman said: "The council has already carried out clearance work at Daniels Brook, and in conjunction with the Environment Agency further and more extensive clearance work has been planned."
A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "We are working with the residents and actively looking at the situation but it is very early days for Daniels Brook. We are still working on a computer model to show how the river behaves in a flood before we assess if something is possible there."
John Parsons, of the flood alleviation team at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "We are well aware of the problems of Daniels Brook and it is a high priority for flood alleviation. Residents will shortly see the city council and the Environment Agency working on the Lower Tuffley section of the brook to clear vegetation and carry out minor engineering work to the brook and Relief Channel.
"The only reason Daniels Brook isn't on the list released recently is because these are schemes which can be completed this financial year."
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