I spent part of Friday visiting local businesses that have been affected by the recent flooding, including Mellor’s Garage and Vale Hydrotherapy in East Challow. Before I go any further, the flooding is having a significant impact on businesses like Mellor’s, so do please try and support businesses that you know are affected if you can.
We unfortunately still have roads around the constituency that are submerged in water. In Wallingford, whole cars were submerged by water in the Riverside car park.
I have been in contact with the Environment Agency throughout and will be meeting with them to discuss the recent flooding, our flood defences and how we can prevent flooding on this scale from occurring again and have been pushing Oxfordshire County Council about the measures they can take to prevent flooding.
Please email me if you have anything that you would like me to raise in this meeting – whether it is a suggestion on how the response could be improved or your experience of the recent floods.
I know that of particular concern has been the flooding on the A417. Everyone who has emailed me about this will know that I have written to Oxfordshire County Council about this many times, as they have responsibility for resolving it. I have pushed them again to do the work that they had planned to do on this before Christmas before delaying it, on this and other roads.
If you or someone you know has had their home or business affected by flooding, which I hope you did not, there is Government support available to help people recover. This includes £500 for flooded households in eligible affected areas for help with immediate costs while households and businesses significantly affected will be eligible for 100% council tax and business rates relief for at least 3 months.
This support will be provided through local councils who will announce further details on eligibility and how to apply. If you have any issues, then do get in contact with me and I will take this up.
Please do remember to complete my Local Roads Survey to share your experiences and thoughts with me about the issues on our roads – from potholes to speeding to traffic concerns. It is currently on my website at www.david-johnston.org.uk/RoadsSurvey. The more responses we receive, the better data we have to push for change.
As ever, if I can help with anything then do please get in touch via [email protected].
