Improving our waterways and protection from flooding is important to everyone living in Runnymede and Weybridge. I was therefore pleased to have very productive meeting with the Secretary of State for DEFRA, Steve Barclay MP, and the Environment Agency’s River Thames Scheme lead, David Bedlington, yesterday about my campaigns to improve the situation locally.
We discussed the River Thames Scheme’s remaining barriers, including getting the planning approval streamlined once the current consultation is complete, so that we can get it built ASAP. The Secretary of State proposed strategies and offered support to help the DCO application process go faster which I will take forward with the project team leads.
We also discussed cleaning up and maintaining our waterways; in particular, removal of material blocking the flow of smaller waterways on private land and tackling illegal moorings on the Thames. I will be working closely with the DEFRA team to get the improvements on enforcement we need.
I also welcome that, further to my requests, the EA committed to join a public meeting to address constituent concerns regarding the downstream effect of the Jubilee River on the constituency. I will set this up and provide further details in due course.
