A POST-MORTEM into devastating floods in communities including Silsden is moving too slow, claims a senior councillor.

Liberal Democrat leader Jeanette Sunderland said Bradford Council is falling “behind the curve” by not addressing the causes of the Boxing Day floods.

She spoke as both the council and the Environment Agency held initial meetings last week to discuss past and future flooding problems.

The Environment Agency hosted fact-finding roadshows in Haworth, Ingrow and Keighley for residents and businesses.

And the council held the first public information-gathering session, kicking off its long-awaited review into how public bodies responded to the Boxing Day crisis.

Cllr Sunderland said the council’s review into the causes, impact and response to the unprecedented situation was only get just getting off the ground, indicating an unacceptable lack of urgency.

Residents of Silsden and Crossflatts were among those who took part in the public meeting in Shipley last Thursday.

Malcolm Rook, of Redcar Lane in Silsden, believes flooding on their road was caused by a council drain, which had an 18-inch drain directing water into a six-inch culvert.

He said: “It can’t cope with that water.

"It causes flooding in the road on a blind bend and cars are left abandoned for days.”

Tim Meggitt, of Castlefield Lane in Crossflatts, said: “I am disappointed we are having these conversations seven months down the line. This session should have been held within a fortnight.

“As far as we are concerned, the council has done absolutely nothing to assist us to get our community back up and running.

“If it hadn’t been for volunteers, the road would still be five inches deep in mud. Most of it has already set like concrete in the drains. There has been no strategy. No one has any idea what would happen if it flooded again tomorrow.”

Cllr Rebecca Poulsen, who represents Worth Valley Ward on Bradford Council, welcomed the chance to give her views during the Environment Agency’s well-attended roadshow in Haworth.

She said: “They were taking down information and hearing people’s concerns. It was more a fact-finding thing rather than offering solutions at this stage.

“I would like this process to be faster – we are into July now. If they going to make improvements, they have not got long to carry them out.

“The parish council and district councils are working on their own flood plan, small things we can do here, but the Environment Agency has to work on the bigger things.”

Cllr Poulsen said the Environment Agency agreed to the suggestion to visit several households in Haworth that had been hit by flooding.