As a result of our failing Labour Council officially bankrupting our borough, vital flood protections will be scrapped as a cost cutting measure, local Conservatives have learned.
Due to a ‘Section 114 notice’ being issued, tight restrictions on Council spending must be made. One of the first areas to be hit by these punishing cuts will be the flood alleviation projects taking place across Croydon.
Over recent years there has been considerable flooding in areas such as Coulsdon, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown and a number of Section 19 Flood Investigations have taken place recently to find out how the flooding is being caused and how it can be alleviated.
A number of projects designed to protect our communities and residents from the damaging affects of flooding were due to start in the coming weeks, but as a direct result of Labour’s financial incompetence these will no longer proceed.
The funding was provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs specifically to fund flood alleviation projects. However, it has been revealed today that Labour didn’t ring-fence the money and so they have chosen to subsume into Croydon Council’s General Fund.
The General Fund is the cash available to the Council to fund the day-to-day running costs. This means that Labour have deliberately chosen to cancel vital flood proection work in order to help plug their gigantic financial deficit.
One project in Riddlesdown was just weeks away from commencing. This would have greatly reduced the flooding that occurs on Mitchley Avenue and Lower Barn Road and which, at its worst, effectively cuts Riddlesdown in half severely impacting the lives of thousands of local people.
Cllr Helen Redfern, Shadow Cabinet Member for Clean Green Croydon, says:
Residents, Councillors and Council staff have worked hard to fight for these much-needed flood protection projects, so it is devastating that these cannot proceed.
Refusing to fund these programmes is short-sighted, will increase long-term costs and – most importantly – will impact the lives of so many in Croydon.
Local people are bitterly disappointed that the Labour Council’s financial mismanagement makes this project impossible and that continued flooding and disruption will now be inevitable over the winter.
This is one of the first of many cuts to services that Labour will announce as a direct result of them unnecessarily bankrupting our town. Croydon deserve a better.
