Bedford borough communities are being encouraged to establish flood resilience groups to help mitigate the impact of severe weather events, following successful initiatives in areas such as Stevington and Marina Court, Kempston, a meeting heard.
Councillors and officers praised the role of community-led flood groups in preventing damage, improving emergency response times, and creating direct links between residents and the local authority during Monday’s Climate Change Committee (17 March).
The discussion highlighted the need for more volunteers in flood-prone areas, particularly in communities where residents may feel overwhelmed or unsure of where to begin.
With each flood group being tailored to meet their community needs.
Melanie Bright, senior flood risk officer at the council, said: “We’ve got to focus on where we’ve got those hotspots of flooding.
“For Marina Court, for example, there’s not much they can do, unfortunately – the river comes up and then it goes down,” she said.
“So in terms of the kit, we’re seeing if we can provide them vacuum cleaners and dehumidifiers because unfortunately they’re going to flood whatever.
“They don’t need ‘the road is flooded’ signs, they don’t really need hi-vis jackets and they don’t need sort of walkie-talkies.
“Whereas other communities might need those road closed signs or hi-vis jackets.
“We can tailor those groups to suit that community,” she said.
The Committee heard that the groups feel that the biggest benefit is a direct link with the council, especially for floods at night or at the weekends.
So they can let the council know straight away if a road needs to be closed, for example.
“It’s just that quicker communication and linking into us, and equally we can [deal with] their specific needs,” Ms Bright said.
“Stevingdon is slightly different because they’ve got water engineers and hydrologists and they are quite a unique group.
“They’ve got different specialists in the village and that sort of suits them, but it doesn’t have to be that technical.
“We just need one or two volunteers that are willing just to put their hand up and I can help them write the plan, we can go through it.
“They’re not going to get a chainsaw and stop chopping trees down and jump in a river and do rescues,” she clarified.
Residents who are interested in setting up a flood resilience group for their community can contact their ward councillors.
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
