I had this letter in the Crawley News and Crawley Observer this week: Sir, It was disappointing when the Tory ruling group voted to terminate the Full council meeting at 10pm last Wednesday, as it meant that our Labour motion related to the suffering of Ifield residents during the recent flooding did not get debated. On Xmas eve last year 33 elderly people were evacuated from their home, The Gables, in Ifield. 22 residents were moved to the Civic Hall to an emergency response centre run by CBC employee Gail Weeks. Gail was supported by up to thirty other members of staff during a day of looking after these people. I would like to place on record thanks to Gail Weeks, and her colleagues, for their dedication and care for these people, especially on a day when most of us were thinking of Xmas with our families. The Gables was last flooded on 16th December 2008. And it came close to flooding on several occasions in 2009 and 2013. And the same applies to neighbouring streets – River Mead and Strathmore Road. In fact, the flooding in this area first started in 2000. And we are not talking about people having the inconvenience of having to drive a different route to get to their destination, due to a road being closed due to flooding – we are talking about people that won’t be able to return to their homes for, probably, in excess of six months. In the case of The Gables residents, I fear that some of them will never return. I think that it is time that something was done about it! I know that there have been plans and schemes and good intentions, but it seems that the delivery has been focused on the north and east of Crawley and that Ifield, in the west, has been overlooked. I, and Ifield colleagues Chris Oxlade and Sue Mullins, are working with CBC Officers, other local authorities and the Environment Agency to see if we can get some action taken to prevent further flooding in Ifield. Let’s hope that we are successful, as someone has to speak up for the residents of Ifield. Yours sincerely, Cllr Peter Smith Labour, Ifield and Ifield West
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 13:33:20 +0000
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