Flooding can be an absolute disaster, and sadly there are several areas in the constituency we’ve seen it hit recently.
That’s why earlier this year I joined forces with some of our brilliant councillors and local residents to look at solutions – including on Whitstable Road in Faversham.
The flooding on the south side of the Recreation Ground has been going on for far too long, and former Swale Borough Councillor Denise Knights has been campaigning tirelessly for improvements.
She and I met with SBC and Kent County Council late last year to make the case for action, and KCC subsequently agreed to fund some works. It was brilliant to see these taking place in recent weeks.
After meetings between KCC, Southern Water and Swale BC looking at what each could do to help reduce surface water flooding, the KCC Highway Drainage Team has been making changes which will help stop flooding between Park Road and Cyprus Road.
As well as reducing the flooding risk, the additional drainage and pipework will also help to improve road safety - and it’s great to hear that more work will be done on the northern side of the Rec soon.
As we head into the rainy autumn and winter it’s really important that Swale Borough Council get their bit done and work with KCC to deal with the flooding problems at the Rec.
I’ve also called for water companies to be given a bigger role in the planning process in my recent letter to the Housing Secretary. We can’t just fix the issues we’ve current got - we’ve got to make sure more aren’t being created too.
