Flooding: Bassetlaw Council chief says authority will do all it can to help flood victims

Coun Simon Greaves, Bassetlaw Council leader.

Memories of the devastating floods that hit Worksop, Retford and other areas of Bassetlaw in November were stirred again this week when Storm Dennis brought torrential rain that swelled rivers, tributaries and becks and topped up the already saturated surrounding fields and farmland.

I would like to reassure residents and businesses that this issue is still firmly in the council’s minds and plans and we are working hard to explore all the avenues that are available to us.

Last week a meeting involving councillors from Bassetlaw, Rushcliffe, Newark & Sherwood and Nottinghamshire County councils, as well as the Bassetlaw CVS and Lincolnshire Community Foundation, took place to allocate hardship grants of up to £500 to people as part of the Nottinghamshire Flood Appeal.I can confirm that 92 per cent of applicants were successful and a total of £28,000 has been awarded to people affected, which will help towards the costs caused by flooding and its after-effects.

We also want to help people who have not yet applied to the Flood Appeal and who may have had difficulty completing the application forms.

As part of a second round of funding, the Lincolnshire Community Foundation will be hosting drop-in sessions to guide people through the process and we hope to make a further announcement on this very soon.

We are also administering the Government’s Property Flood Resilience scheme and information can be found here.

Finally, I would like to remind residents and businesses that the consultation period for the Draft Bassetlaw Local Plan will end at midnight on Wednesday, February 26.

If you have not yet had a chance to look at the draft plan and submit your views, I would urge you to do so.

The plan will shape development in our district for a generation and it is vital that as many people as possible are part of this process.

To see plan documents, and submit your views, click here.

Simon Greaves is the leader of Bassetlaw Council.