A public meeting was recently held by Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP to allow Cotswold residents to raise their concerns about flooding in the area.

The Cotswolds MP's latest in a sequence of bi-yearly meetings saw a high number of attendees vocalise their anxieties and discuss possible alleviation measure.

Representatives from Bledington opened the meeting, which took place in Moreton-in-Marsh with a presentation, sharing design outlines of the village's flood risk management project.

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The proposed barrier and a one metre rise in the village bund are expected to drastically reduce the likelihood of flooding.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and the Environment Agency (EA) have funded the project, hoping for completion by the close of 2024.

A backup scheme is also in place should extra funding be necessary.

Moreton Town Council highlighted concerns regarding the substantial amount of region development.

The council underscored the need to earmark non-flood-prone areas for housing and to exclude flood sites from the Local Plan.

Mr Clifton-Brown pledged to take these issues forward, planning to discuss them with DEFRA’s Director General during a subsequent Public Accounts Committee meeting on flood defences.

Anxiety over sewage infrastructure was also expressed by the town council.

Thames Water guaranteed that any public incident should be reported to either the EA or Thames Water directly.

Various stakeholders, including the council, have committed to collaboratively ensure the above concerns are incorporated into the Local Plan.

The importance of conserving floodplains was emphasised by Mr Clifton-Brown, who also expressed concerns over the dire situation of Primrose Court, where raw sewage is discharged during heavy rainfall.

The EA pledged to accelerate their review of the court's permit, originally scheduled for the first half of 2025.

A collaborative approach was encouraged, with calls for multi-agency meetings focusing on flood management and future planning.

Reflecting on the meeting, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP said: "I have held these half-yearly flood meetings for ten years and they really do produce results, individuals and groups... are able to attend and openly raise their flooding issues directly with the relevant agency who are able to do something about it."

He further declared that his team would "be chasing all the agencies involved in the meetings to resolve the action points."