The East Sussex Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani has welcomed the progress made on preventing flooding and sewage overspills experienced by Hellingly residents in periods of heavy rainfall.
To follow-up on previous discussions held most recently in December 2023, another meeting was convened by Hellingly Parish Council and Nusrat last week on site in Hellingly, for representatives of Southern Water, Wealden District Council, East Sussex County Council including Highways and the Environment Agency to provide updates on what action is being taken to address and prevent these ongoing issues.
Since the severe incidents in January 2023, the Wealden MP has been intensely involved in a series of meetings with local authorities and Southern Water representatives regarding the matter, supporting the Parish Council in pushing for full review of current infrastructure provision, clarity on maintenance responsibilities from each stakeholder, and assessment of the necessary upgrades needed to improve the situation.
Nusrat has welcomed the news that clearing works of the culverts along Park Road have been carried out by Highways, which has reduced flood risk and means that the road is better passable in periods of heavy rain. Additionally, Southern Water advised that the results of their connectivity study of several hundred households in Hellingly are being analysed and further action will take place to assess infrastructure failings and needs for repairs.
Nusrat Ghani: “I welcome the actions taken by Highways to resolve flood issues on Park Road, and efforts by Southern Water to investigate infrastructure failings by conducting a connectivity study.
"I appreciate that this is a multi-agency issue, but it is regrettable that it has taken a whole year since the major incident last January to get answers and commitments from various stakeholders. I would like to thank Hellingly Parish Council representatives Jenny Hoodless and Cllr David White for their tireless work on the matter and I will continue working with them to push all authorities to prioritise Hellingly for infrastructure upgrades as well as to ensure that infrastructure maintenance is carried out regularly, to prevent further issues.”
