Government 'must pay' for new flood relief scheme
A personal encounter with David Cameron during last month's devastating floods has led parish councillor Ian Thompson to write to the Prime Minister with a special plea.
Cllr Thompson - who is Datchet Parish Council's flooding spokesman - was at the forefront of the emergency response when the village disappeared under water last month.
He grabbed the opportunity to talk to Mr Cameron when the Prime Minister paid a personal visit to Datchet to see for himself how it was coping.
Cllr Thompson said: "He was well briefed and seemed to fully understand the situation.
"He asked the right questions, so I was able to give him the right answers. There was no formality."
Now Cllr Thompson has followed up the meeting with his letter which presses Mr Cameron to make sure the Government fully finances the Environment Agency's (EA) proposed River Thames Scheme.
This is a scheme for a new 17 kilometre flood channel, which would bring the same relief to Datchet, Wraysbury and down river towns like Staines and Chertsey that the Jubilee River brought to Windsor, Eton and Maidenhead.
At the moment the EA is saying half the money might have to come from riverside councils like the Royal Borough whose population is most at risk. But Cllr Thompson believes this would be a recipe for disaster.
In his letter to Mr Cameron he warns that expecting local councils to meet much of the cost would doom the whole plan to failure if some were unable to find the money. He asks Mr Cameron to act quickly to ensure that the scheme can be completed within six years.
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