Villagers plea to find 'effective' answer to tackle Brampton floods
Talks between residents, authorities and agencies are ongoing
More than a month on since flooding hit a Cambridgeshire village, residents are still wondering whether a long-term solution can be found.
People living in Brampton have been voicing their concerns to the likes of Cambridgeshire County Council and the Environment Agency on what long-term solutions can be put in place.
Hansell Road is one area that's been flooded three times this year, some people seeing floodwater enter their homes with other parts of the village also affected.
Talks between residents, authorities and agencies to discuss solutions are ongoing.
Chip Colquhoun lives in Brampton and although he hasn't been affected by flooding himself, his home previously has.
'Better communication' needed
"I'm friends with a lot of people in the other half of Brampton that has been hit by flooding; I'm wanting to make sure we have a structure in place that is going to prevent this (floods) getting as bad as it has going forward," he said.
"The positive we've got is there needs to be a better communication infrastructure between the agencies and the residents, and between residents and other residents.
"There were a lot of people who had no idea what they could or should be reporting."
At a multi-agency meeting in Brampton this week, some residents suggested if dredging - which removes silt material such as soils that have washed into rivers from surrounding land to increase river flow - could be enforced for the River Great Ouse.
The Environment Agency dismissed this as an option.
Michael Brown, who represents people living in and around Hansell Road, said current advice to residents is to focus on self-protection measures such as using sandbags.
"It’s disappointing; we knew we had to protect our own homes," Mr Brown said.
Council investigation into floods
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said it has pledged to "monitoring rivers, inspecting our assets and doing maintenance and clearance activities.
"Furthermore, we’re working with partners in Local Resilience Forums and responding to any reports of incidents from the public or partners."
Environment Agency officers are also clearing rivers from blocking to help what it says "reduce flood risk and visiting the communities most affected".
At the meeting, Cambridgeshire County Council said it's received 35 reports of flooding in gardens and four reports of flooding in homes in the Brampton area.
The authority said it's investigating the causes of flooding in Brampton and any actions it can take to reduce the risk or impact of floods happening again.
Search for 'effective' options continues
Mr Colquhoun believes there may be caution over which path to take when it comes to tackling flooding.
"The reason why they're (Environment Agency) not rushing into an alternative solution is because those alternatives could cause further issues down the line," he added.
"They know dredging isn't working but they need to pace themselves before coming up with an alternative.
"We don't know all of the options available to us; things like dredging and sandbags are solutions people talk about, but we don't know what is going to be effective and not cause further problems."