This in from Chris Whitehouse, in his own words. Ed
The Mayor of Ryde, Isle of Wight Councillor Wayne Whittle, told local residents attending a recent meeting to discuss flooding in North East Ryde that he was “deeply disappointed” that neither Island Roads nor Southern Water had considered the matter sufficiently important that they should attend.
Speaking after the meeting of the Ryde North East Flood Group, held on Tuesday 5th November at Joe’s Bar in Ryde, Cllr Whittle said:
“Meetings of those in the community concerned about flood damage have been held when necessary over a period of nearly four years since the floods of 2010. We have historically had good engagement from all key stakeholders including the Environment Agency, the Highways Department and the Fire Service. Southern Water has also attended in the past.
“I am deeply disappointed that neither Southern Water nor Island Roads, who have taken over from the Highways Department, felt able to attend to hear first hand the frustrations of local residents and businesses.”
Local flooding
The meeting heard that the recent storms had caused three local properties to flood, requiring pumping out by the Fire Service. Local residents were angry that neither Southern Water nor Island Roads were present to talk.
In particular, Adam Poulter, owner of the flooded Trentham Guest House in the Strand, was particularly frustrated that after several years in a row in which his property had been flooded no solution seemed to be in the pipeline.
Cllr Whittle added:
“We will be meeting again on January 21st at 5pm at Joe’s bar, and I sincerely hope all those who need to work together to deliver solutions will be present.”
Update 11am:
A spokesperson from Southern Water has been in touch to explain the reason their representative didn’t attend the meeting. It is good to see them reacting swiftly to ensure they pick up on the key issues raised in the meeting as well as organising site visits to the properties affected.
A Southern Water spokesman said:
“We apologise for our absence at Tuesday’s flood group meeting in Ryde.
“Regrettably, our representative who was invited is off long-term sick and the email request was not picked up.
“We have spoken with Cllr Whittle to apologise and thank him for his understanding.
“A senior manager will soon be in touch with Cllr Whittle to talk through the issues raised at the meeting and arrange visits to the properties affected with a view to reducing the risk of flooding in the area.
“Our staff will always attempt to answer emails as quickly as possible so if people do not receive responses, we ask that they follow up with a phone call to make sure the message has got through.”
Image: Ryde Flooding from 2010 by Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
