Following a recent meeting at Advantage West Midlands with Tenbury Mayor Richard Jones, former Tenbury Mayor Bob Martin, County Councillor Ken Pollock, Malvern Hills Portfolio Holder for Finance, Ralph Madden and Harriett Baldwin a request was made for a partnership contribution from AWM, to help build flood defences to support the town's economy. Separately, AWM recently announced that it had dropped plans to contribute almost £1,000,000 to build a biomass plant on the Tenbury Business Park because of budget cuts at the Agency.
In a comprehensive response to Harriett Baldwin, Mark Pearce, Corporate Director of Economic Generation at Advantage West Midlands, lists a range of contributions made by the Agency in recent years to benefit Tenbury. These include:
- £170,000 to Malvern Hills District Council in 2007 to clean up the town after the 2007 floods.
- £15,000 in grants to Border Film Festival, Tenbury TIC and the charity Speaks Volumes
- £27.500 in grants to convert redundant buildings to retail use
- Over £30,000 to help tourism initiatives, like Applefest and the Mistletoe Festival
- £11,000 for the Tenbury Citizens Advice Bureau
However, he states that due to budget cuts, "I can offer no prospect of the Agency providing funding for the flooding project in Tenbury in the foreseeable future."
Harriett Baldwin said, "It is disappointing that AWM has given a negative reply to Tenbury at this time. The Environment Agency has worked hard to reduce the indicated cost of the scheme from £5mm to £4mm. Worcestershire County Council has indicated a willingness to make a contribution to the cost of the scheme. Malvern Hills District Council are making a a significant contribution in kind. The economic benefit to Tenbury is calculated to be £7.5mm. I have written back to ask AWM to consider their position very carefully, because their mission is to support the region's economy. In addition, flood defences could mean significant future savings for them in clean up costs."
Photo: Visit to Advantage West Midlands. From L to R: County Councillor Dr. Ken Pollock, Harriett Baldwin, Cllr Ralph Madden and former Tenbury Mayor Bob Martin