Comprehensive plan pledged by end of year

28 January 2016....... Elizabeth Truss MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with Craig Whitaker MP, Cllr Jill Smith-Moorhouse and Adrian Gill with Mark Scott from the Enviroment Agency during a quick visit to see Mytholmroyd following the floods over Christmas. Picture Tony Johnson

As she visited the area last week, Ms Truss also promised Mytholmroyd residents a specific plan to repair and upgrade the town’s defences will be produced by May.

Ms Truss said: “Clearly the Calder Valley was probably the worst hit place, 2,700 homes were affected and we need to give people confidence those businesses do have a future in the Calder Valley and that we have the proper defences in place.

“The overall plan for the valley will look at upstream storage, to the reservoirs Yorkshire Water has, as well as other measures needed for the long term.”

Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker said: “I am delighted by the announcement from the Secretary of State. The Government has made the repairs of the walls a priority and the additional work to raise the height of the walls will make sure that Mytholmroyd is better protected for the future.”

On the Calder Valley Flood Support Facebook group, Mr Whittaker said that the Environment Agency had undertaken a great deal of modelling since the 2012 floods and will produce a full catchment plan “that will look at everything from the moors down to the bottom of the valley. The issues will be how co-ordination between agencies and private land owners will be achieved to achieve some of the objectives long-term.”

Coun Simon Young, (Lab, Ludd Foot) welcomed news of the work in Mytholmroyd, but said had Government taken action sooner, residents may have seen far less devastation on Boxing Day.