Save The Ribble

A blog dedicated to preserving the beauty and delicate ecosystem of the River Ribble, and opposing any 'vision' to build a barrage on our River and develop on our riverbanks, floodplains and green spaces, causing damage to wildlife and the environment and increasing the risk of flooding to our homes. Save the Ribble Campaign is not responsible for the content of external blogs or websites which link here.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Council Votes To Ignore Flood Risk to Preston Residents

Preston City Council has voted today by 28 votes to 25 AGAINST a motion from Riversway Councillor Jack Davenport to "suspend further work on Riverworks until the flood risk assessment can be completed" - this assessment, due out next month, looks at the flood risk posed to existing houses by the river, such as those in Walton Le Dale, Frenchwood, Broadgate and Penwortham.

Jack Davenport argued that "Flooding concerns are more important than Riverworks and suspending work shows that we are taking the flood concerns seriously, there will be no cost to us if we delay the work in favour of making sure our residents are safe and protected"

Mayor Christine Abram, said the matter could be dealt with at the next full council meeting on October 18. Coun Davenport, said: "Better hope it doesn't flood before that, Christine."

Lancashire Evening Post Coverage Here

74% of local people voted AGAINST the idea of the Riverworks Ribble barrage and housing plans in a recent LEP poll,

By voting to oppose this motion, the council has shown that it puts the wishes of those greedy developers behind the Riverworks Barrage and Housing proposals ahead of the interests of local people, and ahead even of the need to protect local people from the flood risks in the area, exacerbated by our increasingly wet weather and our old and shoddy flood defences, a flood risk that would be greatly increased by building a barrage across the Ribble, and thousands of houses in it's flood plain, as is suggested in the Riverworks proposals.

It seems that since developers stand to make £millions from this irresponsible scheme, the council is not going to let things like the flood risk to local people stand in their way.

What is encouraging is that 25 councillors ARE now concerned about the threat of floods, and we hope that this number will increase as local people continue to show their opposition to this deeply irresponsible assault on our environment, and on the safety and quality of life of local residents.

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2 Comments:

At 2:38 am, Blogger daltonsbriefs said...

I may not be as green as you, but I sure appreciate your passion and focus on your region. Keep up the good solid writing.

Featured on Carnival of Real Estate this week at our site.

 
At 1:50 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Loving the Ribble! I love these posts when they show up in the carnival. I couldn't help but stop to commiserate with you over all the governmental red tape. At least they're protecting the people! We too have had issues with environmental studies that should have been done sooner rather than later and judicial decisions that leave out a push to get things underway. Hang in there guys! Hawaii's sharing in similar drama! .

 

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"The care of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart" Tanako Shozo Save The Ribble Logo