We are a Gloucestershire Severn Vale rural parish, with a population of approximately three hundred and fifty people, one hundred of which were affected by flooding. Because we are situated a few miles upstream from Tewkesbury, in the flood plain of three River Severn tributaries, our flash floods preceded the consolidated tragic severe Severn flooding in the town.

  The unprecedented rainfall on July 20th and earlier in June 2007, had rendered us acutely vulnerable to flooding.

  What has become very clear since however is that we were very poorly prepared.

  Gloucestershire Highways is contracted to Gloucestershire County Council. Before the floods, it was running a £100 million highway maintenance budget deficit. Currently it now stands at £130 million. In our small rural parish alone, we had £0.25 million worth of outstanding drainage work waiting in abeyance when the flood waters overran the third of our underground drains in our parish that do function.

  Additionally, the three tributaries of the River Severn draining for example Cheltenham Racecourse and its Cotswold escarpment through our parish, are only maintained to a minimum of their flood water capacity by the Environment Agency. One brand new highway bridge in our parish, obstructed flood water, and proved to only have a fraction of the flood water capacity required to release water, and prevent flooding damage to adjacent houses.

  Lack of appropriate investment in cost saving drainage maintenance and drainage capacity via the two key authorities, we believe has contributed to the level of severity of the flood damage in our parish.

  May we say that we hope that members will appreciate that the problem of a substantial lack of investment in drainage infrastructure both in our parish and in our county, has to be addressed as a matter of a sound, and now proven, investment for the future.

Stoke Orchard and Tredington Parish Council

August 2007