River Severn Flooding Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Harriett Baldwin
Main Page: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)Department Debates - View all Harriett Baldwin's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
River Severn Flooding
Harriett Baldwin Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Daniel Kawczynski
My hon. Friend raises a pivotal issue. The irony is that many parts of our country are badly economically hit because of a lack of water. In this day and age, we ought to be able to devise a system whereby we can properly manage water and ensure that it can be better utilised for areas lacking it while protecting our constituencies.
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on his proposal and I support it from Worcestershire. Does he accept that it is also important to look at the tributaries of the River Severn, such as the River Teme, which affected Tenbury Wells on this occasion, and the River Avon, which flows into the Severn.
Daniel Kawczynski
I am very conscious of that and I hope that the Minister will take that point on board in her response.
I want to give the Minister as much time as possible to respond. I repeat that the River Severn is 220 miles long. It is the longest river in the United Kingdom. The River Severn basin has an area of almost 4,500 square miles that spans the English-Welsh border and runs across the west midlands before entering the sea at the Bristol channel. About 117,000 households, and more than 10,000 businesses, are considered to be within flood zones from the River Severn and its tributaries. The economic impact of the devastation that our businesses have been through is massive. In my constituency alone, there has been more than £1 million of damage and costs.
I am grateful to have had the chance to raise the issue. When I went to see the clear-up in my constituency, I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that I saw an extraordinary Dunkirk spirit. People of all ages came together and gave up their time to help their fellow residents and businesses. We had a “buy local” campaign over the weekend in Shrewsbury to encourage people to use the businesses that were adversely affected. The Minister knows how strongly we feel about the issue. The time has come for the Government to act on managing the River Severn.