South Kesteven District Council leader Ashley Baxter writes about the response to flooding
Happy New Year, is it? 2025 has arrived like a punch in the face, writes South Kesteven District Council leader Ashley Baxter (Ind).
Weatherwise, at South Kesteven, we have a severe case of déjà vu as some of the villages that suffered as a result of Storm Henk have experienced further flooding almost exactly one year later. This time, some additional areas, including parts of Grantham, have also been hit.
While Lincolnshire County Council is the lead flood authority, the team at SKDC were once again at the forefront of the response. Thanks are due to all council staff involved as well as to the numerous community volunteers.
Every flooded house is subject to a formal inquiry known as a Regulation 19 investigation. The reports relating to Storms Babet and Henk have only very recently been completed at significant expense to the public purse. Sadly, though predictably, most of the findings are merely restatements of facts which most victims of the flooding knew just hours after the first inundation. Put simply, too much water arrived unexpectedly with no place to go.
The potential solutions and mitigations against further flooding are various. Some are straightforward and local such as making sure ditches and gullies are cleared more regularly, and ensuring communities have sandbags available. However, there are some causal factors which are beyond the reach of any town or parish council including systemic failures of national planning policy and, at a global level, changing weather patterns caused by rising atmospheric temperatures.
National and local government faces a conundrum. How can they deliver millions of new homes in England over the next few years without causing a catastrophic impact on local environment, flood plains and biodiversity? Last month, the Labour government revised local authority figures for indicative local housing need. South Kesteven is now expected to find 895 new properties every year, which is almost 60% more than the current average number of actual builds in recent years. This will further increase the massive strain on our planning system even in the unlikely event that private-sector developers suddenly find a preference for building modest affordable houses on brownfield sites rather than large executive homes in the open countryside.
As with so many issues, if you find yourself wondering why councillors have made a particular decision, then ask yourself also whether the civil service in London allowed them any real choice in the matter.
And ask yourself further, will replacing district councils with huge unitary authorities really improve efficiency or communication with residents who pay for council services? And will the arrival of a directly-elected mayor beholden to an established political party, red, blue, green or purple, make any difference at all?
