Flooding

Debate between Hugh Bayley and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

It is my personal belief that global warming and climate change are occurring, that they had an effect on the recent flooding and that they will have a bigger effect on flooding in the future. That belief was the reason why I decided, eight years ago, to back npower’s proposals to put 30 wind turbines offshore off the coast of Rhyl. I switched on the turbines. The Prime Minister then came up to Llandudno for a Tory party conference and described those turbines as giant bird blenders. He then went back to London and stuck a mini bird blender on the top of his chimney.

According to statistics given to me on 17 December, which do not include figures from the recent flooding, 408 households in my constituency flooded in the two-year period from 2011 to 2013. That is the second highest number in the UK. The Prime Minister did not visit my constituency to speak to the flood victims. My constituency was again flooded on 23 December, and again, he did not visit. That is an insult to the people of the Vale of Clwyd.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Like my hon. Friend, I represent a constituency that is at great risk of flooding. I know the human suffering when people lose personal possessions—photos of weddings and of deceased relatives—homes and businesses. Will he say a little bit about how people in his constituency are coping with those pressures?

[Chris Ruane]

I will come on to that in a moment when I describe the visits that I have made to my constituents in the Vale of Clwyd, in St Asaph, Rhyl and Prestatyn.

Progress has been made on flood defences in my constituency. Some £7 million has been spent on a harbour wall in Rhyl, £3 million on raising the banks of the River Clwyd and £4 million will be spent on extending the harbour wall. Having reviewed the two floods, my local authority has a list three pages long of the work that needs to be done in the Vale of Clwyd, and it can only be done if we get help from central Government. I spoke first hand to residents in St Asaph and in Rhyl when I visited them in December 2013.