• MY heart goes out to the people affected by the horrible floods across Camden.

Around West Hampstead rain water was waist-high and I’ve seen residents and businesses devastated by the impact.

It did bring home to me the difference that attentive councillors can make. I’ve lived in a block of flats in Fortune Green for over 50 years and flooding has been a serious problem in the area.

The estate manager has repeatedly asked Fortune Green’s councillors to get the drains on Cannon Hill and West End Lane cleared.

But for years, despite several serious floods, nothing happened. Out of frustration with the Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors, I raised this with the leader of Camden’s Conservative opposition, despite our area not having Conservative councillors. Thanks to his request, the drains were swiftly inspected and cleared.

Longer-term, one of the main causes is the loss of trees and gardens in the Frognal area. Located on higher ground and home to the source of the underground rivers that flow through West Hampstead, these green spaces are essential to absorbing water and stopping flooding.

I raised this with another Conservative councillor who is a planning barrister. He made a presentation to the council, which persuaded the council to ban the removal of front gardens in that area to prevent flooding in Fortune Green and West Hampstead as well as loss of biodiversity.

These changes were never going to be enough by itself to stop the monsoon we got this week, as we’ve seen across the borough. But these are real, tangible, changes that mean there will be less flooding across a large part of our community for years to come.

I’m standing to be the councillor for Fortune Green in next week’s by-election because I want to work on solving problems and avoid heartbreak from further devastating floods.

Based on the experience on flooding, it’s Conservative councillors that will solve these problems, not just wait for the next storm to hit.

IAN COHEN
Conservative Candidate for Fortune Green