Last week I held two community events at The Hub in Horncastle.
I hosted a Community Summit last Friday morning to bring together representatives from more than fifty local organisations that work to support people in our community.
The Community Summit was split into two sections, the first focused on supporting children and young people, the second focused on supporting adults. Attendees heard from a wide range of contributors who were able to ask questions, share ideas and connect with other organisations in order to work together in the future. Organisations attending the Community Summit included local banks, charities, disability support groups, schools, grant making organisations, as well as parish, district and county councils.
Support being offered by East Lindsey District Council and from the government was also outlined for attendees.
This Community Summit was held following from the success of a similar event held last year focusing on supporting constituents with the cost of living.
Following the Summit, having listened to local farmers affected by recent flooding, I further organised a meeting for local flood affected farmers to meet two representatives of the Environment Agency; Leigh Edlin, Environment Agency Area Director for Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire and Adrian Clack, Lincolnshire Delivery Lead. Representatives from local drainage boards, the National Farmers’ Union and from the County and District Council were also in attendance at the meeting.
This meeting provided farmers with an opportunity to have a frank and open conversation with the Environment Agency representatives about how recent flooding has affected their land. A number of farmers raised significant concerns about how the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme had worked during Storm Babet and their concerns about communication and the importance of prioritising the maintenance of watercourses. A number of possible future action points were also discussed for how the agricultural community can support the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce flooding in the future.
Our local farmers do fantastic work meeting the challenges presented by unpredictable weather all year round. I’m keen to support them in their efforts to become an even bigger part of the solution for preventing and managing future floods.
I’d like to thank everyone who attended and helped to make these events such a success.
