I learned this week from one of my ward members in Alpha Street, March, that he and his family will finally move back into their home next month after being moved into temporary accommodation following the floods last August.

Fenland District Council gave a three-month period of non-payment on their council tax on the understanding that these families would be back in their homes after three months.

Given that it has taken 10 months perhaps the council should consider extending that three months to something longer.

It is an issue that I will be taking up on their behalf if I am still a district councillor representing March North after May.

The plight of the residents caught up in the floods of last August raises a much wider issue – how much more development can this town take with this inadequate drainage system?

This council has approved a local plan that gives developers a free hand to develop wherever and whenever in Fenland with no commitment to the provision of desperately needed infrastructure.

The local plan professes to be people-led and provide for a better future for existing residents. How can this be with no commitment to an improved drainage system, better roads etc?

What is needed is a policy on development that puts people first, a policy that states “that there shall be no further major development in March without much needed infrastructure being provided first”.

CLLR PETER TUNLEY

Independent councillor, March North

Via e-mail