CHURCH leaders in Somerset, one of the counties worst affected
by recent storms and flooding, have written to the Prime Minister
to call for measures to be taken to prevent any repetition of an
emergency on this scale.
They acknowledge that flooding has long been a frequent
occurrence in low-lying areas of the Somerset Levels, and would
continue to be, but said: "The floods do not need to last as long
as these have."
Some villages on the Levels have been cut off for more than
seven weeks (News, 14,
7
February).
The letter, signed by the Bishop of Taunton, the Rt Revd Peter
Maurice, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clifton, the Rt Revd Declan
Lang, and other church leaders, calls on the Government to examine
new building schemes to ensure that they do not place extra
pressure on the rivers, and says that the rivers must be dredged.
Tree-planning must also be encouraged, it urges, as trees absorb 60
per cent more rainfall than pasture.
"We call on the Government to ensure that an integrated policy
for the management of the water courses of Somerset be developed
which involves all stakeholders and acknowledges local conditions
and needs. In the mean time we commit our local churches to
continue to help and assist all in need."
The letter says that the crisis has proved once again the
"resilience" of people living in the Levels and surrounding
areas.
As floodwater recedes in other areas, some churches are havingto
postpone funerals, because the ground is still waterlogged. At St
Michael's, Tilehurst, in Berkshire, funerals have been postponed,
as graves are being flooded because of high groundwater levels.
The chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium
Management, Tim Morris, said that he had never known cemeteries to
be so badly affected by weather in his 30 years in the
industry.
He said: "As soon as you start to dig, the graves fill with
water, and of course that's not only difficult for funerals: it's
also quite dangerous for the gravediggers to dig down six or seven
feet, with water coming in and potentially the sides of the
excavation collapsing."
The diocese of Chichester has launched a flood appeal, and all
churches will be asked to pray this Sunday and next for farmers in
Sussex and those across the UK who have been affected by the
weather.
In a joint letter, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner,
and the Bishop of Horsham, the Rt Revd Mark Sowerby, wrote: "Often
when we pray for victims of natural disaster overseas, forced from
their homes by earthquake or storm, we don't imagine that something
even remotely similar could happen in the UK. But many of us have
been deeply moved by the plight of farmers and others working the
land, a hard living at the best of times, who have suffered from
the excessive rain and flooding that our country has experienced
this winter."
A church in Surrey has become the first recipient of a grant
from the county's Flood Recovery Appeal, administered by the
Community Foundation. St John the Baptist, Egham, runs The Kitchen,
a community café, which gave free hot food and drinks to all people
affected by the flooding (News, 21 February). The £2000 grant will
be used to buy more supplies for those who still can't return to
their homes.