By Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr Terry Piccolo
WE are writing today, following the events in Stanford West yesterday – a day which has seen family homes and businesses not only disrupted, but their property damaged. The River Hope went up to heights not known to anyone with recall of 40+ years of living in SLH.
Local ward councillor Terry Piccolo said: “Cllr Shane Hebb and I performed a whole ward walk, and met/discussed the issues with residents across the town. Some of the scenes are horrible – garages, cars, homes, will have suffered significant damage. Damages to homes often lead to losses of personal treasures and possessions, which can never be recovered.
We are grateful that there have been no injuries, as can happen elsewhere across the UK when it significantly floods, and are both appreciative to the responsiveness of Thurrock, ECFRS, Anglian Water and all other agencies to support SS17 residents find some stability on an otherwise bad day for our town.
As ward councillors, as we feel all agencies have a duty to fully understand the direct causation of today’s events, along with any contributing factors. The reality is that people’s lives have been disrupted across a whole town today, in a way that hasn’t happened in decades.
All agencies and organisations with responsibilities in the area must investigate and understand root causes. We have to strive in the hardest sense to ensure that a combination of high tides and rainfall, doesn’t lead to this again.
Cllr Terry Piccolo
Stanford le Hope West.
Mayor of Thurrock
