Matlock residents urged to start preparing for floods

Over the past few months Coun Steve Wain, of Matlock Town Council, who is the town’s voluntary flood warden, has been communicating the residents and businesses in at risk areas within Matlock, encouraging them to sign up for flood alerts and giving other information about how people can be prepared.

Coun Steve Wain, who started his role in March, said: “Matlock suffers from both run off flooding from the urbanised hills above, and river flooding.

"As a community Matlock needs to remember that flooding is a serious threat to the town, and it is essential that people who live in vulnerable areas register for flood alerts.”

One way you can help is to report any blocked drains that you see to the Highways department at Derbyshire County Council using Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190, or if there is an obvious surface blockage, such as leaf litter, clear the top of the highway gully with a brush, if it is safe to do so.

Coun Wain has also been communicating with the Environment Agency and Derbyshire County Council to ensure that Matlock remains a priority.

To sign up for Flood Alerts visit www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings or call the Floodline: 0345 988 1188.

For more information on flooding, visit Matlock Town Council’s website www.matlock.gov.uk/floods.

Homes and businesses which were badly affected by the flooding last year were given the chance to apply for a grant of up to £5,000 to make changes to properties to reduce the flood risk to them in the future and make them more resilient.

Some examples of property flood measures include air brick covers, self-closing air bricks, water resistant plaster and replacement of suspended timber floors with solid concrete.

Other measures may include something that protects the whole street or clusters of properties in an area.

Only work identified by a suitably qualified surveyor as appropriate for your property can be paid for from the grant, if your application was successful.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor