Chesterfield council leader urges Government to open up funding for victims of Storm Babet

Derbyshire was deluged with torrential rainfall which caused many waterways to burst their banks with many homes, businesses and roads affected by flooding after Storm Babet struck between Friday, October 20, and Saturday, October 21.

Chesterfield was badly hit by the storm with many forced to leave their homes with flooding around Chatsworth Road and Brampton,. Tragically ,Derbyshire Constabulary confirmed an 83-year-old woman, Maureen Gilbert, was pronounced dead after she had struggled to escape rising water at her home on Tapton Terrace, on Saturday, October 21.

Chesterfield Borough Council Leader Tricia Gilby has written to the Government requesting ministers immediately implement the Flood Recovery Framework, which would allow the council and its partners to administer funding and other support measures to help with council tax discounts and business rates relief.

Cllr Gilby said: “Our hearts go out to all of the borough’s residents and business owners whose lives and livelihoods have been directly impacted by last Friday’s floods, and in particular to the family and friends of Mrs Maureen Gilbert. We were deeply saddened to learn of Mrs Gilbert’s tragic death.

“This has been an incredibly challenging period for the town and borough – but Chesterfield is a resilient place – our communities pull together like no other at such times.

“I have been humbled by the actions of Lifehouse Church, Gussies Kitchen and so many other community organisations and business owners who have reached out to support affected residents and businesses – my thanks to everyone for their concern, kindness, and exceptional efforts.

“I am similarly humbled by the actions of the council’s staff. Our teams have been working around the clock since early Friday morning – delivering sandbags and aqua sacs, providing a rest centre at Queen’s Park Sports Centre, placing the homeless and vulnerable into emergency accommodation, cleaning affected streets, removing flood damaged goods, and responding to a wide range of calls for assistance.

“We have also had teams on the ground since Sunday calling house-by-house and since Monday business-by-business to offer advice and support and to understand the needs of affected residents and businesses so that we can better plan the council’s response going forward.”

Chesterfield Borough Council has been working with Derbyshire County Council and the emergency services to respond to emerging issues and to offer support to local communities.

Those forced to evacuate their homes were encouraged to stay with family or friends but an emergency rest centre was set up at Queen’s Park Sports Centre, on Boythorpe Road, Chesterfield, for those who had been forced to leave their properties.

Cllr Gilby added: “I have also written to the Government requesting that ministers immediately implement the Flood Recovery Framework, which would enable the Council and its partners to administer funding and other support measures – council tax discounts and business rates relief – to affected residents and businesses.”

Derbyshire County Council is the lead emergency planning agency for flood response and it has worked closely with the emergency services and partner agencies, including Chesterfield Borough Council, and other Derbyshire local authorities.

The borough council’s emergency and business continuity plans were triggered in line with Local Resilience Forum protocols, under instruction from Derbyshire County Council, emergency services and other partners including the Environment Agency.

It began emergency preparations with partners on Thursday, October 19, and its teams began distributing sandbags and aqua sacs during the morning of Friday, October 20, and it shared ‘warning and informing’ messages from lead agencies.

The borough council stated that it also worked tirelessly alongside Derbyshire County Council, emergency services and other key agencies to respond as quickly as possible, however, the water rose quickly, and the road network presented significant challenges.

Borough council teams have also been out on the ground since Friday, October 20, over the subsequent weekend and continuing into this week supporting emergency service colleagues in both the initial emergency response, according to the council.

A borough council spokesperson added that its teams have also been visiting residents and businesses door-to-door to offer support and to assist with the clean-up and these actions will continue through the week and for the foreseeable future.

Derbyshire County Council Leader Barry Lewis Councillor Lewis has also confirmed how he too has written to the Government asking for additional funding for the clean-up operation.

Advice is available online for anyone whose home has been affected by flooding on the following websites:

https://floodassist.co.uk/insurance/flood-re-insurance?gclid=CjwKCAjwysipBhBXEiwApJOcu6KppPpE-4Rbbgzgt5jZXGvIx_asn2fBTK8lLYnuc1Abi799lWRkfBoCXTYQAvD_BwE

https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/recovering-after-a-flood

https://nationalfloodforum.org.uk/

Any issues on the roads, such as trees down or flooding can also be reported to the county council online via Report a road fault or ask about a road issue – Derbyshire County Council.

For those affected by flooding, support and advice is available on the county council’s www.derbyshire.gov.uk/floodsupport. website.

A small number of roads had remained closed. For the latest on weather-related road closures visit the www.derbyshire.gov.uk/roadsupdate website.