In the early hours of 1^st January, a number of properties in the Palatine Road area were hit by flooding, after the River Mersey breached banks and the Didsbury flood basin also overtopped. The Environment Agency used to operate the Didsbury flood basin relatively rarely, but with climate change leading to more extreme weather events, we’ve needed to use it much more often in recent years. That’s led to problems for local allotment holders and users of local facilities like the park and golf course. More worryingly, this year we also saw properties flooded as the water hit the highest levels on record. I want to thank the emergency services who acted to protect residents, and thank local communities – especially everyone at Didsbury Mosque – for pulling together to help people displaced from their homes. I was out in the affected communities following the floods and was heartened to see the way that local residents were supporting those affected.

Extreme rainfall like this is becoming more common, and we need to work together to stop these problems happening in future. I’m already having conversations with the Environment Agency and Manchester City Council to establish how we can better prepare for future extreme weather. We need long term work upstream to manage the water flow, but also immediate measures to protect vulnerable communities.

In September last year, the Government established a new Floods Resilience Taskforce, charged with accelerating the development of flood defences and strengthening the nation’s resilience to extreme weather. I look forward to seeing the results of that work -to bring about better protection of families in South Manchester and across the country, championing the delivery of drainage systems, flood defences and natural flood management schemes for local communities.

I would also like to draw attention to Flood Re, a joint initiative between insurers and the Government, which aims to make the flood cover element of household insurance more affordable. Flood Re works with insurers to implement the ‘Build Back Better’ scheme, enabling homeowners affected by flooding to install property flood resilience measures up to the value of £10,000, when repairing their properties after a flood. In the event of a flood, having property flood resilience measures installed could avoid repair costs of up to 70% compared to a home without measures installed and can mean the difference between staying at home or having to move out for many months following a flood. More information can be found here.

I would encourage those in affected areas to sign up for flood warnings to stay informed of any potential risks. You can do so by visiting www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings

If you have been personally affected by the flooding and require assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me.