Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday that farmland could become a priority for flood prevention.
Wells MP Tessa Munt had called for farmland to be added to the Environment Agency's list of priorities following last year's devastating floods. Questioned by the Western Daily Press yesterday during an electioneering visit to Somerset, Mr Cameron said: "I am happy to look at how we set out the Environment Agency's priorities."
His pledge to examine the case to protect the West's vital rural businesses came during a visit to the giant Morrisons supermarket distribution centre at Bridgwater, close to the area of some of the worst floods. Afterwards, Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he would now invite Environment Secretary Owen Paterson down to talk with locals about the issues. "We need to talk about exactly what is going on," said.
Mr Cameron said the Coalition Government was putting £2.2 billion into flood defence and partnership working would allow more to be achieved than would otherwise be the case, but housing and businesses in urban areas had been an official priority and farmland had not. Figures revealed earlier this month show that failing to dredge stretches of the rivers Parrett and Tone in Somerset alone have cost £10 million.
Mr Cameron said he was confident that negotiations with the Association of British Insurers over a new strategy for homes at high risk of flooding would be successful.
Two hundred workers at the Morrisons site gathered for a question-and-answer session with Mr Cameron as shelves piled high with hundreds of boxes of washing powders, fabric softeners and pet foods towered above them in the huge warehouse. Mr Cameron was quizzed about when the planned Hinkley C nuclear power station, just a few miles away, would go ahead.
The Government is still negotiating with the developer, French energy giant EDF Energy, over the "strike price" for electricity to be generated by the station. The 10-year construction phase alone would generate thousands of jobs and be a huge boost to the local economy. It had been hoped the strike price would have been agreed by now, a vital step in EDF's search for a new partner and final decision on a go-ahead.
Mr Cameron said the Government, as strike price negotiator and energy policy-maker, "has two hats on", adding: "We want it to go ahead. It's going to be great for investment. I am confident it will happen and be the start for something very big for Somerset."
