MORE resources will have to be ploughed into flood prevention in the Malvern Hills district to make sure there is not a repeat of the hardship suffered by homeowners following the 2007 summer floods.

Nearly 750 properties in the district were flooded following the torrential downpours during the weekend of July 20 2007, according to an independent flooding study.

The report, by BWB Consulting, was commissioned by Malvern Hills District Council and will be presented at a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee, together with a Worcestershire joint county and district scrutiny report on the floods on Monday .

Chairman of the committee Councillor Tom Wells says: “The consultants are offering a way forward by prioritising where six or more dwellings were flooded. Some of my concerns are that unlike Wychavon, Malvern Hills does not have a dedicated land drainage budget. Not a penny.

“ It does not even have a full-time drainage officer. We have a half-time officer and nothing else. I believe Wychavon has six officers. “The district council is the land drainage authority but how will any improvements be funded?

“We will be asking some searching questions about how to address these problems. As the council prepares its budget for next year, I hope the council will take the opportunity to invest in schemes to resolve flooding.”

Coun Wells pointed out that in many cases landowners were responsible for water courses. “We still need drainage officers to liaise with land owners to ensure they do what they should do,” he says. “In the past 18 months we have not issued any formal notices to a land owner.

“The reports lead to the inevitable conclusion that the council will have to find some funding and move the work forward.”

Coun Wells is urging people affected by flooding in the district or anyone with knowledge of local water courses or ideas and suggestions on flood prevention to attend the meeting at Priory Lodge Hall, Avenue Road, Malvern, at 6pm and contribute to the meeting.