"WHERE is the River Dearne flood defence
model we were promised three years ago?",
incensed residents demanded as they rounded
on Environment Agency officers at a Darfield
meeting this week.
They asked why the model on which any future
flood protection measures depend was still
incomplete, when a model for a £330,000
Dearne fish pass was achieved in just two
months?
And flood warden and Church View resident
John Bannister blasted: "We were
promised a fact file that never
materialised. We have been three years in
the waiting and we want to see this model
this month!"
When told that changes to banking and the
laying of ton-heavy boulders in the Dearne
to create the new fish ladder would not
increase flood risks according to experts,
he retorted: "It was experts who said the
Titanic would not sink"!
And he said that a newly-created footpath
along the Dearne had only advertised
retrospective planning consultation, with a
notice inviting comments, posted on June 11,
when the closing date was three days prior
to that.
Church View flood victims voiced anger that
the lack of proper flood prevention plans
made it impossible for many to get proper
house insurance.
And Darfield's River Dearne flood committee
chairman Brian Keys said: "There is little
evidence of anything being done to combat
future flooding, yet people have noted the
fish ladder scheme. This is an entirely
separate issue that we are told is neutral
to the impact of flooding - but the local
community must have access to answers, and
to people who can answer their questions. We
have not been told what is happening".
One Church View resident said her husband is
now prevented from fishing in the Dearne due
to a lack of disabled access. And she
pooh-poohed future car parking plans by the
Dearne at Darfield, saying soakaway surfaces
such as the one she has in her garden simply
do not work.
She blasted: "Nothing has been done for
Darfield except for one stupid thing to let
eels travel uphill!"
Darfield resident Tim Temple said: "At the
last meeting we had with the EA, we were
told there was no money available.
"The emphasis should be on diverting money
to stop people being flooded. Three years
ago I had four feet of water in my home and
there is nothing to reassure me it won't
happen again".
Mr Keys said that a large chunk of the £695
million EA national budget for flood defence
is in fact used to tackle coastal erosion.
The public event - to meet three EA
representatives - was organised by Mr Keys
to inform locals about projects completed by
the Dearne Valley Green Heart Project.
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