Calderdale Council’s Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel visited Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden to see the progress made in recovering from the 2012 floods .
Following the whistle-stop tour was a meeting at Todmorden Town Hall where members listened to the concerns of residents and heard from key partners - Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency, Calderdale Council (flood resilience manager Rachel Jones), the Canal and Rivers Trust, and the Flood Action Groups - on how the recovery effort went and their future plans.
The panel heard that the partners had invested £3.5 million in flood recovery.
Andrew Cohen, from the Environment Agency, said the organisation had secured £3.5 million, and had applied for a further £1 million, for 60 minor works project, around the borough over the next two years. He said there were no specific dates that any of the works would start and each would commence in order of priority. The agency will also spend a couple of hundred thousand pounds on seven further packages of work, including schemes for Hebden Bridge, upland management, river stewardship, channel management, a capital scheme review to see how flood defence schemes in the area can be improved when future funding is secured, a flood investment plan to highlight projects that need to be done over the next 10 years and a catchment-wide feasibility study, Mr Cohen added.
After hearing from other partners and asking questions, the panel deferred making any recommendations until its next meeting in September.