Major pieces of the flood defence jigsaw remain to be put in place – despite the welcome announcement in the Gazette of some improvements.

Changes to the pumping response and resilience measures for homes are a partial response to the symptoms and leave the problem totally unresolved. Over decades residents have had to put up with repeated – and increasingly frequent – lagoons of sewage threatening their homes. In February houses in Norton came within millimetres of being flooded again as a lake of sewage feet deep lapped at their doors It is not acceptable to expect the residents directly affected – or the thousands more impacted by closure of County Bridge and Norton Road – to be hit time after time.

There is no question of “if” further flooding will happen in Norton – unless major infrastructure investment is made, it is a matter of when.

The property level resilience work planned for properties will buy time, but in the face of another major flood, the protection measures would eventually be overwhelmed. Any improvements are always welcome – as with the latest measures – but they fall miles short of the massive overhaul needed. That includes a huge step up in permanent pumping capacity and separating foul and surface water drainage in the localised area affected.

We badly need Yorkshire Water to act - it’s planned survey of the sewerage system is hopefully a move in the right direction. It needs the help of Ryedale District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Environment Agency, Unless major investment is put in place, we will continue to see our homes threatened, roads closed, and the health and well-being of residents put at risk.

That is apart from taking into account the dumping of sewage straight into the River Derwent, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Unless the response goes well beyond sticking plaster solutions residents – and the environment - will continue to be subjected to medieval conditions on a regular basis. More extreme weather caused by climate change is worsening bouts of heavy rain, overwhelming infrastructure that hasn’t been up to the job for decades. Something must change – we need investment in a better system – and we need it now Howard Keal Nags (Norton Against Sewage) Norton