'Enough is enough': Urgent meeting called to deal with flooding in Harborough

Serious new efforts are being stepped up to combat serial serious flooding in Market Harborough as well as right across the district.

Harborough MP Neil O’Brien is backing attempts by Harborough council to tackle notorious flooding wetspots once and for all.

Local councillors are also wading into the fast-growing row as they demand action now to protect fed-up vulnerable residents’ homes, roads, streets and car parks.

Neil told the Harborough Mail: “This state of affairs simply isn’t good enough.

“I want to set up an urgent meeting with local authorities to discuss flooding fears and concerns in the constituency.

“Enough is enough.”

The Conservative MP said local flooding blackspots were again hit badly over Christmas and New Year amid torrential rainfall.

“The Scotland Road area of Little Bowden in Market Harborough and Melton Road off the A6 in Kibworth are just two of the worst examples.

“There are certain places in the constituency that are flooding again and again - and we badly need longer term solutions to put an end to this.

“It’s a hugely distressing and frustrating experience for those who are affected by it, particularly when it causes damage to people’s cherished homes,” said Neil.

“Scotland Road in Market Harborough and Melton Road off the A6 are big concerns as there seems to be flooding every time we suffer heavy rain.

“I’ve seen flooding at the railway bridge on the Melton Road for years, with cars getting stuck and queues forming.

“We seriously need a more permanent solution there.”

Cllr Peter James, who represents Little Bowden on Harborough council, put a motion before the authority’s full meeting on Monday night demanding a multi-agency meeting to stop flooding.

The Liberal Democrat councillor also called on the council to carry out essential structural work in a bid to stop the rivers Welland and Jordan bursting their banks and causing mayhem.

“The footpath from the railway station to the Millennium Mile has flooded twice now and ended up under three to four feet of water.

“That’s a dangerous situation, there’s a danger to life,” Cllr James told fellow councillors.

“We need to lift the footbridge there above the breach level.

“I’ve spoken to an elderly couple in a bungalow in Rectory Lane.

“They were flooded just before Christmas and are being forced to move out for 12 months – it’s terrible.”

Cllr Phil King, who leads Harborough council, agreed that flooding is a “serious matter”.

“It’s devastating and very upsetting for families affected,” he admitted, as the motion was narrowly defeated.

Cllr King told the Mail he is to stage a remote emergency meeting with Environment Agency (EA) officials on February 25.

At the virtual get-together he’ll also be talking to County Car Parks, which owns infamous flooding hotspot Welland Quarter car park opposite the railway station.

“We all have to explore ways of ending this flooding there, it’s not acceptable.

“We’ll talk to EA experts and see what we can do.

“We will try to raise the Scotland Road issue too but like everyone else we have problems all over the district,” said Cllr King.

Angry pensioner Christina Daniels, who lives in Scotland Road, said: “I’ve lived here 18 years and I’m sick of repeated flooding – along with all my neighbours.

“We have had an ongoing problem with flooding in Scotland Road that never seems to be addressed.”

The widow, who’s in her 70s, added: “A serious situation arose just before Christmas when the River Jordan rose to a dangerous level.

“I was contacted at 1am on Christmas Eve by the Environment Agency and warned that I might have to leave my home.

“I never wish to be in that position again.

“But we are all obviously going to have a lot more rain before this winter’s out,” said Christina, a mother-of-two and grandma-of-two.

“So rather than being forced to pile up sandbags at our front and back doors and hope against hope the various agencies and authorities should now unite to make sure we can live safely and peacefully.”