David Warburton, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Somerton and Frome today welcomed the Rt Hon Liz Truss MP, newly-appointed Secretary of State for Environment, to visit areas of the Somerset Levels affected by flooding earlier this year.
David Warburton met Ms Truss at Long Load Bridge in Long Sutton and introduced her to local residents there, to discuss their experiences of the Somerset floods. Ms. Truss also met Graham Holloway, owner of Long Sutton Golf Club which was devastated by the flooding, and visited to the local sluice and pumping station.
David said, “I was eager to bring Ms. Truss to Somerset at the earliest possible opportunity to speak with local residents and business-owners about the flooding crisis. Although she’s only been in the post ten days, its imperative that she gets up to speed as quickly as possible with the views of the people who were directly affected by the flooding crisis last winter.
David continued, “Ms Truss was able to see first-hand some of the worst-affected flood regions of the Levels. She spoke at length with Graham Holloway, owner of Long Sutton Golf Club, and other local residents, to hear their views and listen to their experiences.
“I urged her to continue Owen Paterson MP’s work in ensuring that our rivers and waterways are properly dredged, that the Somerset Rivers Board is properly managed and that all measures possible are taken so that a disaster on the scale of last winter can never happen again in Somerset.”
Earlier this year, David invited both the then-Environment Secretary Owen Paterson MP and George Eustice MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Environment, Water & Rural Affairs, to Long Sutton to meet local residents, farmers and business-owners affected by the flooding. David pressed the case then and continues to lobby government for proper maintenance of Somerset rivers, moors and waterways.