£200k for Yalding flood defences goes missing

Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and the Weald, Stuart Jeffery, has echoed calls for Owen Paterson, the Secretary of State for the Environment to be sacked[1] after the Guardian newspaper[2] revealed today that £200,000 spending on flood defences for Yalding was scrapped by the government. Last month Stuart wrote to Owen Paterson[3] to demand urgent action for Maidstone.

Stuart Jeffery: "Yalding remains under severe threat from climate change and yet the government has cut funding to defend it throwing local peoples homes to the floods. £200,000 should have been spent helping to prevent people's homes being ruined this Christmas yet this climate change denying environment secretary seems to know better.

"Owen Paterson should be sacked for his handling of the flood risks and for his continued denial of climate change. The science on climate change is certain and it is clear that the flooding this winter will continue to get worse in years to come as climate change develops.

"Urgent action is needed for Yalding. This includes flood defences, moving some historic buildings out of harms way and of course measures by the government to tackle climate change."

ends.

Notes:
1. http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/02/05/green-party-calls-for-environment-secretary-owen-paterson-to-be-sacke/
2. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/16/flood-area-defences-funding-cuts
3. http://www.stuartjeffery.net/2014/01/flooding-in-maidstone.html