§ 7. Mr. Goodhartasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional information he now needs to reach a decision on the size of the grant he will make to the Ravensbourne River flood prevention scheme; and when he expects to announce a decision.
§ Mr. HoyI have now received the basic information from the Kent County Council upon which the benefits of the scheme may be assessed. This is being done, but I cannot yet say when a decision will be reached.
§ Mr. GoodhartWill the hon. Gentleman remember that flood prevention work carried out upstream is pushing more and more water down into the gardens and houses of my constituents and that the matter is becoming increasingly urgent?
§ Mr. HoyI agree that the matter is urgent, but it was right in the first place to give permission for the first part of the work to be undertaken, and we will expedite a decision.
§ Mr. LiptonWill my hon. Friend say who or what is now holding up the completion of this very urgently required scheme?
§ Mr. HoyThere were two councils involved, one of which was the Kent County Council which took some time to deal with the matter, but in fairness to the council I must say that it had to gather information from local authorities. This it has now obtained, and we have received the information. I hope that the delay will not last very much longer.