VILLAGERS have enlisted the support of Rishi to protect their community from devastating flooding.
He has agreed to help the Brompton Flood Prevention Group (BFPG) in its efforts to get flood prevention measures implemented.
His support for the community group followed a meeting of BFPG in the village near Northallerton attended by Mr Sunak.
The group’s chair, Sue Butler, outlined the problems the community had faced in recent years. Major flash flooding affecting more than 150 properties had occurred in 1979 and 2000 and there was another less serious flood in 2012. A major flood alleviation project costing £3.2m involving the building of a reservoir had been drawn up by the Environment Agency but was dropped in 2011.
Eighty villagers, frustrated by lack of progress to protect their homes, formed the community group in 2013. Since then the BFPG has sourced £60,000 from fundraising and grants towards the design and construction of a scheme which will, at times of heavy rainfall, slow the water flow in the Ings and Winton becks before they merge to form Brompton beck through the village.
The group has also paid £450 for Brompton beck to be de-silted.
The group’s preferred prevention scheme involves the building of a holding pond and series of partial dams which will reduce the volume of water entering Brompton beck
Rishi has agreed to take up the group’s cause and will push the Environment Agency and the local internal drainage board to speed up the process of obtaining consents.
He said: “It is fantastic what this group has achieved through members’ hard work and initiative, bringing the community together to tackle an issue which hangs over so many residents.
“It is immensely to the group’s credit that it has reponded so positively to the disappointment of the original scheme being dropped and I’ll do everything that I can to assist.”
Mrs Butler said the group was very grateful that Mr Sunak had found the time to attend their meeting. “Rishi was so keen to help us and we found his support inspirational. He immediately grasped the issues that we face and offered us practical advice.”