Residents criticise lack of action after flooding

Catcliffe has suffered flooding on numerous occasions

Residents in a village hit by flooding fear their homes could be overwhelmed again as they criticised a lack of action from the council and Environment Agency.

More than140 properties were flooded in Catcliffe when the River Rother overtopped during Storm Babet in October 2023, Rotherham Council said.

At a public meeting on Thursday, one resident, David Pickering, told the BBC: "I don't think we have resolved anything. I don't think we have got any further forward."

Rotherham Borough Council said it was considering its next steps following the publication of a report into the flooding.

Catcliffe suffered severe flooding in 2007 and 2019, but last year's rainfall saw water levels in the Rother reach the highest on record.

About 250 homes had to be evacuated, with 17 households needing temporary accommodation and a further eight requiring "longer-term relocation", the council said.

Mr Pickering, who lives opposite the river on Orgreave Road, said some resident were not warned of imminent flooding last year.

He added that he was still without answers following the meeting, which was held to mark the publication of a council report into the flooding.

"What are they actually going to do with the river, we don't know," he said.

"We have got to have some kind of land where it [water] can go on."

Mr Pickering said the threat of further flooding had left him and his family "on alert all the time".

"Everybody around the village, we are on edge," he added.

Mr Pickering said residents are "on edge" about more flooding

"I appreciate and understand why residents were so upset and remain so upset," said the Environment Agency's director for Yorkshire Mike Dugher.

"We are actively working with Rotherham [Council] to look at how we can put together a feasible and viable package of improvement measures, but at this moment in time I can't guarantee if and when they will be able to come forward."

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, who chaired the meeting, said: "We need to see a lot more accountability for the ongoing prevention of floods.

"Catcliffe has always had floods and probably always will have floods, but there are some maintenance things that can be done.

"They [residents] are scared. It's raining a lot and it could happen again."

According to the report, while flooding in 2007 and 2019 was largely triggered by flooding along the River Don catchment the "situation mostly flipped in October 2023".

It added that options to reduce the risk of future flooding in the Catcliffe area were "currently being investigated" and that plans were being drawn up for a new pumping station but that funding for the scheme had not been secured.

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