Published: Wednesday, 25th November, 2009 8:00am

Letter: Flood of fears over meadows plan

by Correspondent

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The flooding in Reading has not been of a Cumbrian scale

I am sure everyone would agree that our sympathy goes out to the people of Cumbria whose homes and livelihoods have been decimated by the flooding that is taking place.

I watched with sadness on our television screens to see families having to escape from their flood damaged houses and businesses forced to board up their premises and leave with their futures uncertain.

On hearing that the floods are at a level that is described as a once in a thousand year occurance this concentrates my mind that we cannot allow the Kennet Meadows floodplain be developed by the Prudential.

It is local residents, campaigners, Martin Salter, the Environment Agency and local Labour councillors, led by Councillor Pete Ruhemann who have stopped the floodplain being developed.

If the Prudential were allowed to get away with building on the Kennet Meadows then the tragic scenes in Cumbria would be replicated in Southcote and Coley with hundreds of homes damaged, not to mention the town centre and Oracle being flooded.

Although the Prudential have gone quiet on the development they have not gone away and they are hoping for a change of Government to be able to submit planning to develop the meadows. This is concerning as the example of Pincents Hill in West Berkshire shows that the Tories cannot be trusted on the issue of largescale developments.

The only way to stop the Prudential from building is to support the campaign led by local Labour councillors to make the Kennet Meadows a trust, thus giving the area permanent protection from the developers.

John Ennis, Labour Councillor Southcote Ward