Flooding In Yorkshire

EDM number 914 in 2015-16, proposed by Greg Mulholland on 05/01/2016.
Categorised under the topic of Flooding.

That this House notes the significant flooding which hit Yorkshire during the Christmas holidays due to flooding from the Rivers Aire, Calder, Derwent, Nidd, Ouse, Rye, Swale, Ure, Wharfe and Wisk; further notes KPMG estimates that the cost of the floods across the UK could hit £5.8 billion and PwC estimates that it could be over £1.5 billion in northern England; pays tribute to the emergency services, council workers and volunteers who worked around the clock to rescue and support those affected, supported in some cases by the armed forces; praises the incredible community spirit across many of our towns and cities which saw local people pulling together to help one another, both in terms of assisting with the situation on the ground and also raising funds for those affected; notes that the £180 million Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme proposed in response to the 2007 floods would have covered a 12 mile stretch of the River Aire including the city centre; regrets that this was scrapped and replaced with proposals in 2013 for £50 million scheme to which Government contributed £32.5 million; notes that in light of the damage caused and cost to the local economy affected that this was a mistake and a false economy; calls for an urgent review of flood defences in Leeds city region and across Yorkshire, including in the Aire and Wharfe valleys and also a reassessment of areas at risk from flooding; and further calls on the Government to undertake this review and assessment without delay to improve future flood resilience as soon as possible.

This motion has been signed by a total of 5 MPs.