Residents of Skenfrith discussed damage caused by flooding and possible preventative measures for the future last Thursday (31st October).

Monmouth MP David Davies and the county councillor for the ward Ruth Edwards, met with people affected by the recent flooding in Skenfrith to discuss what measures might be put in place to prevent future flooding and to protect the village should it happen again.

One suggestion made by several residents was to devolop a community plan for dealing with flooding in the future. This could include having quicker access to emergency road closure signage, or barriers to prevent road traffic being able to cause additional damage by driving through floodwaters. A resident reported an incident of a Range Rover driving through the water and flooding a house which had narrowly evaded the initial high water levels.

Other preventative measures discussed included tree and hedgerow planting. A recent planting project headed by Transition Monmouth - which would have covered Skenfrith - had its funding cut. It was expressed by several people who live in Skenfrith that both protective measures and preventative measures were required, while there was agreement among residents that finding ways to prevent floods like this from happening in the future was important, climate change could still bring more extreme weather events and finding ways to deal with them is essential.

A meeting was arranged at Hilston Park for residents to voice their concerns, however it has since been cancelled and will be reschedueled.

Ruth Walker, whose home was severly damaged, was unhappy at the reaction from the county councillor Ruth Edwards and Mr Davies saying: "Not once have they asked how people were feeling! The council staff, have been outstanding, offering people meals and emergency accomodation."

The Monmouth MP was challenged on previous statements he’d made on the effects of man-made climate change. Keen to clarify his position Mr Davies said: "Carbon dioxide is a global warming gas, that creates warmth, and there’s more of it so some of the less-than-one-degree increase in temperature can be attributed in some way to man-made carbon dioxide." He added: "This is not evidence of runaway climate change."