CHALFORD Parish Council has supported the call for an emergency plan in light of problems that arose during the 2007 floods.

The idea of an emergency parish plan was discussed by the council at a meeting on Thursday night.

Although she was unable to attend the meeting, Stroud district councillor Liz Peters put forward the idea and also offered to compile the plan.

“Chalford suffered quite badly during the floods in 2007 and unfortunately because of certain confidentiality rules not all agencies knew who the vulnerable people in the community were and therefore how to help them,” said Cllr Peters (Con, Chalford).

“I am looking to build something which brings all the different tiers of local government and outside agencies together so in the event of an emergency everyone will knoe how best to help the community.

“We also need to include an emergency shelter into the plan where people can go and get hot meals in the event of a power cut or flooding.”

Cllr Peters now intends to organise a meeting with parish councillors and the Chalford neighbourhood warden to put a plan together.

“The sooner we can get a plan together the better as you never know when the next ‘emergency’ is going to happen,” she added.