Cost of floods in county hits £9m

Sep 4 2007 By Paul Bradley, Birmingham Mail

THE full cost of summer floods in Worcestershire today reached £9 million, council chiefs revealed.

But a lack of central government hand-outs may leave ratepayers footing a bill of at least £6.7 million.

Speaking before a packed council chamber in Worcester, Mike Weaver, director of financial services for Worcester County Council, said: "Clearly these costs were not foreseen.

"The consequences will be adverse and we will use a mixture of funding resources to reach them.

"This will have a bearing on our annual budget and on council tax funding for the next year."

Council leader, Dr George Lord (Con), said that council tax rates would be "indirectly" affected and he said he could not promise that council rates would not go up next year.

Coun Lord said: "We will do all we can to make sure that the funds come from our reserves and capital funding but council tax will be indirectly affected.

"We have to save £25 million in the next three years and with the added burden of the cost of the floods it means we have some very tough decisions ahead of us.

"Nobody likes it when libraries and outdoor centres are closed but we have to find the money from somewhere.

"The government has promised us millions from European Funds but this will take years to come, if at all.

"We have been promised money from the Government before but when the media attention dies down we fail to get it."

At least £6 million will be needed to repair roads and bridges across the county, with a further £3 million for repairs to schools and youth centres.

Emergency efforts immediately after the floods cost £175,000 with the local economy losing more than £6 million every week due to a fall in tourists visiting the region.

An action plan will now see leaders lobbying the government for at least £6.7 million as well as leading an investigation into improving emergency planning.