THE people of Maldon turned out in force to voice their concerns about flooding at the first events of their kind in the town.
The events, hosted by Maldon District Council and Essex County Council, invited the public to Heybridge Primary School and the Plume School to meet staff from the Essex Partnership for Flood Management and ask questions about surface water flooding.
Much of the talk at the Plume School event was on how these agencies could avoid another incident like the one on August 24 this year when a number of homes and businesses across the district were flooded due to heavy rain.
Proposals to build 4,410 new homes in the district over the next year were also discussed.
Partners attending the event included the Essex County Council's Flood and Water Management team, Maldon District Council's planning team, Environmental Protection, Emergency Planning teams, The Environment Agency, Anglian Water, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, Essex Highways, and MDA Community Flood Consultants.
Juliet Revill of Langford said: "Our problem is with the lack of flood resistance when the new proposed houses will be built.
"Floods are very common in certain parts of Heybridge and I just don't see how the new proposed development will help with that at all."
At the event the Maldon and Heybridge Surface Water Management Plan was launched.
It considers flooding from sewers, drains and groundwater, runoff from land and small watercourses and ditches that occur as a result of heavy rainfall.
David Brennan of Wantz Road, Maldon, had his conservatory flooded on August 24.
He said: "We would have liked to have spoken to Essex Highways about their responsibilities with the drainage but they were not here. We were quite fortunate not to have any really bad damage this year.
"We were offered some quite good advice by Essex County Council and by MDA flood consultants, who were very helpful, and we will take some of it for sure."
The surface water management engagement events were held on October 29 at Heybridge Primary School and on November 1 at the Plume School.
One resident from Maldon, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "They said that the flood on August 24 was a one-in-100-year flood but with climate change that could be much more common.
"A lot of people came very close to having real damage done to their properties so everyone needs clearer direction next time – these events are a good idea but they still need to let people know personally."
Essex County Councillor John Jowers, cabinet member for libraries, communities and planning, said: "These events can show that we are all very capable of working together, which is hugely important when one piece of land can be owned by up to four different authorities.
"We think that a lot of local people may know their areas better than us at council level so we want to help use their expertise as best we can."
"We want to solve the problems by working with local people and listen to the advice from local people at events like this."
Gary Richardson from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service's Maldon and Chelmsford emergency planning unit is tasked with helping people understand what to do if an emergency occurs.
He said: "We are trying to make the community resilient to the types of issues we face with flooding and we look to help from the community to assist us where they can.
"This is the first time that all these authorities have come together so hopefully this can help everyone involved."
At the event Mary Dhonau OBE of MDA community flood consultants gave advice about the risk of flooding to homes.
Mary, whose former home in Worcester flooded 12 times in 11 years, said: "I enjoy letting people know about the dangers of flooding and the people in the Maldon area should understand about some of the procedures that can be taken – because sandbags can only help so much.
"You can lose so much to flooding and it's such a horrible feeling, but there are some very easy and practicable steps that you can take to make it less likely."
