Littlehampton flooding: 'This tragedy must now be a call to arms'

‘Three severe flooding incidents’ occurred across the county, in Littlehampton, Earnley and Bracklesham, on Tuesday, April 9.

At around midnight, crews were alerted to the first flooding incident in Littlehampton, which primarily affected Ferry Road and Rope Walk. This came after the River Arun burst its banks and 15 people were evacuated to Littlehampton Wave leisure centre.

Residents were told to get to high places in their homes during the flooding – which has had a devastating effect, with some homes inhabitable and priceless possessions lost to the water.

An ‘informal drop-in session’ was held at Arun Yacht Club on Friday (April 19). West Sussex County Council, Arun District Council and the Environment Agency had representatives at the meeting to answers questions from beleaguered residents.

Among them was Rope Walk bungalow owner Ronald Jones.

Speaking to this newspaper, he said: “My wife got out of bed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and stepped in three inches of water.

“It was right through the house. It eventually achieved about 14 inches deep in the garage. Everything in the house was floating.

“It will be months and months before we can go back home. We have drying equipment and heaters running in the house all the time trying to dry things out. We have lost anything that was on the floor.

“We are staying in a holiday let in Norton. Our dog is with a relative and our cat is at a cattery. It’s terribly difficult, they are part of the family.

“I want to know what the Environment Agency are planning to do to stop this recurring. They’ve spent millions protecting the other side but what about us?”

Alan Akehurst helps to runs a 50-year-old caravan repair company in Rope Walk – and he said the business has lost £60,000 due to the flooding.

“We’ve had a couple of small floods but nothing we couldn’t cope with,” he said. “This time, everything was pushed up the river and it was a no win situation.

"If we had a warning, I could have cleared out everything.

"People have spent all their life building their home up and now lost everything.

"I’ve lost about £60,000. Two caravans are under water. I’ve lost space heaters, welders, generators, heaters, absolutely everything. I’ve been clearing out the workshop so been out of work too.”

Mayor elect Sean Lee, who represents the River Ward, raised concern over the ‘quite disturbing lack of warning’ given to residents before the flooding.

In response, the Environment Agency said that, ahead of Storm Kathleen, a flood warning was issued for the Rope Walk area in Littlehampton at 1.46pm on April 8.

The town councillor said: “I was actually away at the time of the floods. I came back here and heard all about it.

"People have said in years gone by there were sandbags available and warnings available. There was an exceptionally high tide and talk of a solar eclipse.

"These events are going to become more frequent and this side of the river does need development and certainly needs help for the local residents, who appear to have been left defenceless.

“There’s been a lot of talk over the last 20 years and it’s time for action now.

“A lot of these people can’t get insurance now. A warning system is the least that should be offered to the residents. No warning and people had 18 inches of water in their house before they knew it.”

Matthew Lock, director of EuroXpress Removals, is among the business owners calling for urgent action.

He said: “I’m confused that when there are these main two tides and more every year there are no preventative measures put in place to block the water from the same places of flow each times, and would like to see some concrete blocks on all these occasions to help defend the area as a minimum as a preventative measure.

“It would also be nice to see some concrete blocks alongside Ferry Road too so residents and emergency services can travel down the road at all times instead of closing the only access road in at times when the emergency services are most importantly needed.”

Robert Boyce, of Rope Walk, said that, 'without immediate help and long-term defences', all the emotion 'is simply wasted'.

He added: "The tragedy of the flood of 2024 must now be 'a call to arms'. No longer can we sit by and consult with the powers that be whose banal platitudes do nothing at all to find a solution, let alone deliver one.

"The solution by the way is simple; it is the planning, funding, and delivery of flood defences.

"There are over 300 homes and businesses on the West Bank; the Rope Walk river front can be defended for very little money.

"In the long term the defences need to be sustainable and that means the implementation and creation of a new bund behind Climping beach as well as permanent defences at Rope Walk."

Arun District Council said it ‘remains in the recovery phase’ following the flooding incident in Littlehampton, where the ‘combination of high spring tides and strong winds’ caused water to ‘breach the sea and river defences’.

A spokesperson added: “Along with partners from West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Fire and Rescue and the Environment Agency, we held an informal drop-in session last week for those affected by the flooding in Rope Walk, Littlehampton.

"The session was well attended and we spent more than two hours in conversation with residents and business owners. Our priority remains helping people to get back to their premises.

"By working together with the other agencies, we believe our collaborative approach will provide the best service and support to those impacted by the flooding, not only in recovering from this latest incident, but also in education and resilience for the future. For more information, visit: Flooding information | Arun District Council.”

The Environment Agency also issued a statement.

A spokesperson said: “Throughout Storm Kathleen, the defences that the Environment Agency has constructed across Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have protected more than 5,000 properties from being flooded by some of the highest tides on record. Despite this, a small number of properties in vulnerable areas did flood due to a combination of high spring tides and tidal surge.

“In Littlehampton, we do not maintain the flood defences on the west bank of the River Arun adjacent to Rope Walk. This is the responsibility of the riparian owners.

“We do have the remit to maintain Rope Walk Ditch and this was recently cleared in February 2024.

“Together with Arun District Council we continue to work with the community to be more flood resilient. This will include ensuring that everyone at risk is on the flood warning service and offered advice on property level flood protection.”

The government agency said staff have ‘assessed the feasibility’ of building suitable flood defences to ‘better protect’ the west bank of the Arun including Rope Walk.

For this project to proceed it would need ‘significant funding’ from partners in addition to the government funding the project would attract.

Staff ‘continue to review’ the management of flood risk at Rope Walk in consultation with partners and the community.

Spring tides happen on a monthly cycle with ‘differing levels through the year’. The agency explained that a high Spring tide may not cause a flood problem itself without other factors such as tidal surge, wave height and direction being factored in.