Responding to flooding

The heavy rainfall of the last couple of days, coming on top of a long period of wet weather, has triggered some 11 flood alerts across Kent. Kent County Council and its partners activated the County Emergency Centre (emergency planning is an area on which I was briefed extensively after becoming Leader of the Council) and has sought to respond to problems wherever they have arisen.

Some of the most severe pressures have been seen in and around Yalding, Culverstone, Boughton Monchelsea, the River Eden near Edenbridge, Marden and . In the Darent Valley, perhaps the most visible impact has been the overflowing of the Darent and the consequent closure of Riverside in Eynsford. That said, a number of rural roads have also been affected, as have long-standing problem areas such as the lowest-lying houses in Eynsford Road, Farningham, where work continues to find a solution.

For the present, the rainfall and consequent problems appear to be easing. However, with the prospect of wetter winters and a lot of this winter still to go, these issues are not going away. KCC and its partners have honed their responses since the severe impacts over the winter of 2013-14, and we are committing both funds and intense political attention to drainage and flood management, but there is a lot more to be done.