Michael co-chaired this public meeting with Jon Hardey, Chairman of Brasted Parish Council, following the flooding and subsequent damage to properties which residents experienced earlier this year.
Michael said: “I was delighted to be invited to co-chair this meeting last Friday. Having visited Brasted during the floods in February, I saw first hand the impact which the high water levels had on residents’ properties.
The meeting was attended by 40 local residents with representatives present from Thames Water, Kent Highways and The Environment Agency together with Kent County Councillor Richard Parry and SDC Councillor Anna Firth. This provided a good opportunity for the community to come together to share ideas about how a similar situation could be avoided in the future.
As a result of our meeting a technical working group, comprising of all three agencies, has been established to meet quarterly with Brasted Parish Council. It will work through all the issues raised and especially address what can be done to reduce surface water from heavy rain. The local Environment Agency team are also preparing a bid for a scheme to improve flood prevention for both Brasted and Sundridge, and I will be supporting that bid.”