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- Visit: Minister sees at first hand recovery of County Durham and Darlington communities
Visit: Minister sees at first hand recovery of County Durham and Darlington communities
| Published | 30 August 2007 |
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Communities Minister Iain Wright was in County Durham and Darlington today (Thursday 30 August) to meet local residents affected by floods earlier this year and find out how Government aid is being spent to help them get back on their feet.
The Minister visited Chester-le-Street and Darlington - both affected by the floods in June/July - to see how their share of the £20 million Government aid was being spent to help those in the most urgent need.
In Chester-le-Street, which received a £60,000 Flood Recovery Grant, the Minister visited the Emergency Control Centre at Chester-le-Street where he viewed a video of the town centre under water and met with officials and staff to find out how they dealt with the flooding.
He then met with local residents affected by flooding who had benefited from the emergency assistance scheme and centre volunteers and staff who provided support throughout the flooding.
The Minister then travelled to Darlington, which received a £23,000 Flood Recovery Grant, after more than 50 homes were affected. Darlington Council is using its funding to introduce measures for people to protect their homes during extreme weather conditions.
During a special presentation at Darlington Borough Council offices at Lingfield Point, McMullen Road he was given an in-depth report on how the local authority and Northumbrian Water responded to the flooding.
He then met local resident Sarah Jane Burningham, in George Street whose home was damaged as a result of flooding.
Commenting on the visit the Minister said:
"I want to praise the emergency services who responded so well when the floods hit and also the local authorities in Chester-le-Street and Darlington who have been working hard to get their communities back to normal.
"But my greatest admiration has been for those people and their families who have had to cope with such devastation and disturbances and their families and friends who are still helping them.
"The Government for our part is doing everything possible to support affected communities to help them get back on their feet. We have already distributed £16.3 million to help those in most urgent need and will continue to assess what additional help is needed in the coming weeks.
"We have also announced that the Bellwin scheme has been amended to take account of the special circumstances of the floods so that councils will be able to recoup 100 per cent of their costs and have up to six months to claim."
Councillor Linda Ebbatson, Leader of Chester-le-Street Council, said:
"It's good to have a Government Minister visit the area to see and hear from local people how they were affected by the flash floods. We've worked hard to help things get back to normal and welcome the Minister's support."
John Williams, Leader of Darlington Council, said:
"We are delighted to welcome the Minister to Darlington and to show him how we coped with the recent bad weather. Looking at other parts of the country, we escaped relatively unscathed but for those affected by the flooding it was a traumatic experience.
"We work closely with Northumbria Water to ensure residents and businesses can recover as quickly as possible when flooding occurs and we will be talking to the Minister about this."
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