EMOTION, anger and some probing questions were voiced at a council’s scrutiny meeting following the devastating flooding of Calderdale homes and businesses in Storm Ciara last month.

Calderdale citizens attending the meeting, many of them having seen their homes or businesses flooded, were invited to ask questions and tell senior representatives of flood alleviation partner groups of their experiences and ongoing concerns.

In particular, Yorkshire Water’s Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer Nevil Muncaster and the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk Manager Adrian Gill came under fire from questioners who included councillors on Calderdale Council’s Flooding Scrutiny Board.

Calderdale Council’s Chief Executive Robin Tuddenham put the meeting in context with the stark figure that of 2,910 properties flooded across England amid Storms Ciara and Dennis in February, an astonishing 1,267 of them were in Calderdale.

“In the whole impact of those two storms 37 per cent were in the Calder Valley – that’s quite important in understanding the case we have been making that the Calder Valley is a special risk, an ongoing risk and a challenge for future sustainability of our businesses, our residences and our communities,” he said.

Trees planted on Harden Moor in a bid to reduce flooding

“We believe it is not just the local authority but the system and the place needs recognition of investment similar to the City of London in dealing with terrorism.”

Mr Tuddenham said he was not equating flooding with terrorism but the scale of the challenge which only Tier 1 status funding could truly tackle and among partners supporting the council’s case to Government this should be granted were both Calderdale’s MPs, Calder Valley’s Craig Whittaker (Conservative) and Halifax’s Holly Lynch (Labour).

Of 20 schools in England which had to close because of flooding eight were in Calderdale and £10 million of damage has been done to infrastructure and there had been a £750,000 hit on the council assets while dealing with issues with 250 less staff than the Boxing Day 2015 floods and 1,100 less staff that the June 2012 floods.

“We’re in unprecedented territory here,” he said.

Chair Coun Josh Fenton-Glynn (Lab, Calder) had moved the meeting into the council chamber at Halifax Town Hall to accommodate the 70 or so people attending.

He gave time at several points in the meeting for members of the public as well as councillors to ask their questions and for the senior representatives of organisations to answer.

These included questions about the risk of allowing development on flood plains or land close to flood plains, reservoir levels, managing Calderdale’s uplands including the condition of the blanket bog, management of river and canal assets, drainage, dredging, impact on the Ryburn and Calder valleys, the condition of flood alleviation works at Mytholmroyd before the flooding, the time it is taking to complete the works, the impact of flood alleviation works on other towns and villages down river, natural flood management, recovery grants and allocation of funding.

Some questions were about funding, with residents in some areas, particularly the Park Road area of Elland, strongly arguing that defences which were considered but not progressed because of cost issues should be brought forward again.

As well as senior council officers and councillors, including Mr Tuddenham, Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) and Deputy Leader Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot), were Mr Muncaster, Mr Gill, Canal and River Trust senior officer Sean McGinley, Clinical Commissioning Group Chair Dr Steven Cleasby, Chief Executive of the Community Foundation For Calderdale Steve Duncan and senior police and fire service officers.