Flood hopes washed away

It looked like Christmas had come early for Yalding residents but once again it has been taken from them. The village was ripe with optimism on Tuesday following Nick Clegg’s visit.

After close to a year of campaigning and countless meetings with the Environment Agency and politicians they believed they had secured the £34 million they needed to stop flooding.

Half would come from central government and the remaining 50% would come from Kent County Council. (KCC)

They were even told that the defences could be complete by 2020 instead of 2022.

Then KCC threw in something of a curve ball – it turns out it does not have the funds to fulfil its side of the bargain.

Residents and businesses will no doubt feel misled by this news and now face the prospect of seeing taxes raised to pay for the defence projects.

Even then it could take 15 years to raise the funds.

The authority’s leader Paul Carter maintains that he always said money would have to raised in this way. That’s fair enough, but the timelines for the schemes were also discussed. Now KCC says it might not have the money until 2029 – almost a decade after the new schemes were meant to be in operation.

Council representatives were present in meetings when the Environment Agency was telling the public when it hoped the defences would be in place and said nothing.

While better flood protection primarily helps Yalding and Tonbridge, everyone living by the river will benefit from it being better managed.

Let’s hope that politics – and the wording of who promised what – doesn’t interfere with that.