Preston City Council has voted today by 28 votes to 25 AGAINST a motion from Riversway Councillor Jack Davenport to "suspend further work on Riverworks until the flood risk assessment can be completed" - this assessment, due out next month, looks at the flood risk posed to existing houses by the river, such as those in Walton Le Dale, Frenchwood, Broadgate and Penwortham.

Jack Davenport argued that "Flooding concerns are more important than Riverworks and suspending work shows that we are taking the flood concerns seriously, there will be no cost to us if we delay the work in favour of making sure our residents are safe and protected"

Mayor Christine Abram, said the matter could be dealt with at the next full council meeting on October 18. Coun Davenport, said: "Better hope it doesn't flood before that, Christine."

74% of local people voted against the idea of the Riverworks Ribble barrage and housing plans in a recent Lancashire Evening Post poll,

By voting to oppose this motion, the council has shown that it puts the wishes of those greedy developers behind the Riverworks Barrage and Housing proposals ahead of the interests of local people, and ahead even of the need to protect local people from the flood risk posed by rising silts, our increasingly wet weather and our old and shoddy flood defences, a flood risk that would be greatly increased by building a barrage across the Ribble, and thousands of houses in it's flood plain, as is suggested in the Riverworks proposals - but after all, someone stands to make £millions out of this project, so why should the risk of flooding to local people bother our council?

Read more at the SAVE THE RIBBLE BLOG:  http://save-the-ribble.blogspot.com