Together with Dawn Bowden AM and the Leader of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, Gerald Jones, the MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, has written to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to urge the UK Government to provide flood relief funding for local communities affected by flooding and the damage caused by the recent storms.
Over 250 properties in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough were flooded in February, with Merthyr Tydfil Council estimating the cost of repairs at £10 million, and 31 repairs schemes required as a direct result of the storms.
Gerald has also joined with the Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, and fellow MPs and AMs covering Caerphilly County Borough – Dawn Bowden AM, Chris Evans MP, Wayne David MP, Rhianon Passmore AM and Hefin David AM – in writing to the Prime Minister to call on the UK Government to provide emergency relief funding for residents in Caerphilly and the Upper Rhymney Valley.
As one of the areas hit hardest by the floods, Caerphilly County Borough has seen over 200 properties suffering flooding and damage, with many schools, businesses, roads and culverts also affected – with the cost of repairs currently estimated at £4 million. While Caerphilly County Borough Council has provided £500 and £1,000 for affected houses and businesses each respectively, more support is desperately needed to allow repairs to be carried out and local people to recover, and Gerald has joined with colleagues to urge the Prime Minister to address this immediately.
While the Welsh Government has been quick to make support available to affected residents and businesses, with a £10 million relief fund and residents able to apply for up to £1,000 each, the UK Government has yet to provide any emergency relief funding for Wales, and in the joint letter Gerald and Dawn have called on the Prime Minister to make adequate relief funding available urgently, so that communities in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney and across Wales can get the support they desperately need to recover.
To read the joint letter with Dawn Bowden AM and the Leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council to the Prime Minister, click here:
https://www.geraldjones.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/256/2020/03/Gerald-Jones-and-Dawn-Bowden-Joint-Letter-to-Prime-Minister-March-2020.pdf
To read the joint letter with the Leader of Caerphilly Council and Caerphilly County Borough’s MPs and AMs, click here: