Multi-Agency Flood Meeting - Chairman’s Letter

For those who do not know me, I am Julian Scarr, Chair of FA4B.

Firstly, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the opportunity that these meetings, together with the BRFCN meetings, provide for us to communicate with all stakeholders.

These meetings are invaluable. They enable us to ensure that the concerns of those affected by flooding in Buckingham are heard and that our community has a meaningful voice in the decision-making process.

With that in mind, I would like to reiterate what we hope to achieve by being here today.

Let me begin by referring to a recent BBC news report concerning an 83-year-old woman who tragically lost her life when her home flooded after the River Rother burst its banks in Chesterfield in October 2023.

At the subsequent inquest, it was revealed that the street where she lived, comprising just 26 properties, posed as great a risk to life in 2023 as it had when it first flooded in 2007. Clearly, no effective action had been taken during the intervening years to protect those homes from future flooding.

It has now been agreed that the Environment Agency and the local authority will purchase and demolish the properties. This has been deemed the only effective and viable solution to ensure that such a tragedy cannot happen again.

Here in Buckingham, we find ourselves in a strikingly similar position. For almost 30 years, no effective measures have been implemented to significantly reduce the threat of flooding, yet our homes are flooding with increasing frequency.

Without viable flood alleviation schemes being progressed as a matter of urgency, there is every possibility that an incident similar to the one in Chesterfield could occur here.

Many of us are unable to sell our homes, which means the reality is that we will still be living here in 15 or 20 years' time—older, more vulnerable, and potentially less able to respond to future flood events.

We face an increasingly uncertain future. The anxiety we live with is real, constant, and affects our daily lives. This is not simply an inconvenience; it is an ongoing burden that no community should have to endure.

So, what do we want to achieve?

Of course, we want these conversations to continue. However, discussion alone is no longer enough. We need to see viable flood alleviation schemes progressed and delivered without the unacceptable delays that have characterised the past.

These meetings must continue, but more importantly, they must lead to tangible progress and positive outcomes for the people of Buckingham.