A CATSHILL councillor this week urged district council chiefs not to delay vital work which could save residents from being flooded yet again.

Councillor Bill Newnes (Lab, Catshill) is calling for Bromsgrove District Council to speed up plans to carry out work in Catshill to alleviate flooding in Green Lane.

Residents have been campaigning for action to be taken for more than two years and the council has now responded saying that a plan is set to be put forward to the leisure committee in the autumn cycle.

In the proposal, the council outlines a water retention scheme where two balancing ponds adjacent to the recreation ground in Catshill will be utilised to retain excess water and then released at a more manageable pace.

Cllr Newnes said it is all very well having a plan, but action needs to be taken before many people are flooded again.

"It is about time something was done. The residents in Green Lane have been flooded several times and it has taken over two years for the council to do something about it.

"The money has already been put aside to carry out the work so they need to get things moving before people's homes are damaged yet again," he said.

The council's head of technical services, John Moody, said: "It has taken time to carry out a hydrology study, enabling us to look at the water course.

"Once that was completed a plan was drawn up which we think will be successful in helping to alleviate the flooding problems that the Green Lane residents are having.

"Overall, I think things are looking quite positive, but it's difficult to put a time span on it because there are so many different elements."