I am incredibly worried about the incident earlier this week that saw Fylde’s beaches temporarily closed. Monday’s storm also affected Fylde directly and I was truly sorry to see the shocking scenes of flood water damaging homes and businesses in Kirkham, Freckleton, Warton and Wrea Green among other areas. Since then, I have been in touch with Lancashire County Council, the Local Lead Flood Authority, regarding their efforts to address these problems.
For all the progress we are seeing, incidents like the burst pipe at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment and the subsequent storm overflow discharges understandably undermine confidence in local water networks and their operators.
It is particularly frustrating that such an event should occur just hours after I met with the Minister for Floods, Water and Environmental Quality to discuss Liggard Brook and other local concerns.
Nevertheless, I want to thank those residents who have written to me regarding the issues in East Lytham. Having long lobbied Ministers, the Environment Agency, and United Utilities to see improvements at Liggard Brook these letters have helped demonstrate the issues there and ensure these discussions carry extra weight.
I am pleased that the Environment Agency have also made their own representations directly with the Department. The intention now is to include the project in their capital spending plan from 2024 and I will be meeting with the Environment Agency to help ensure this happens.
These recent experiences highlight the need for greater investment in local drainage and sewage networks and I will be looking to make further progress on these issues over the coming weeks.
St Annes regeneration remains another leading priority and I raised this, and the Government’s wider commitment to levelling up, during last week’s Prime Minister’s questions. I was delighted that the Prime Minister followed up on this by inviting me to participate in a roundtable discussion at 10 Downing Street on the role of towns in our economy.
I again raised St Annes as an example of how small towns can serve as the home for smaller, locally owned businesses, but that their success is dependent on having a town centre that entices residents and visitors, as well as attracting office space and non-retail businesses to locate there to ensure a healthy footfall. To achieve this, I want to see Government levelling up funds help to redesign the centre of St Annes, modernising the Square’s layout, doing away with the tired street furniture and providing a better pedestrian link to the busy seafront and pier.
Lastly, I was delighted to be back at the AKS Preparatory School, which I opened in 2013, to take part in their assembly on democracy. It was fantastic to hear students’ thoughts on key issues, be they local or national, and to answer some interesting and probing questions from pupils spanning the school’s full age range.