With not long to go until Islanders head to the polls for the General Election, MP hopefuls have been discussing how they would tackle an issue affecting many Islanders: flooding.

Over the last year Ryde, Gurnard, Newport, Cowes and Binstead are among the areas to have been badly hit.

In 120 words, we asked candidates standing for Isle of Wight East what they would do to address the problem.

Here's what they said...

For Island Labour, Emily Brothers said: “Conservative failure to act against the risk of floods has cost the economy nearly £4bn since 2010, resulting in Island homes being damaged, businesses decimated, and agriculture dilapidated. 

“Compensation has only been given for Storm Babet. As your MP, I will advocate for more consistent support.

“We need a step-change from the Environment Agency to clean tributaries from the East Yar River, action from Southern Water to separate sewage from rainwater and deploy flood gates at Simeon Recreation Grounds and Island Roads to clear surface water.

“As your MP, I will encourage Labour to establish a COBRA style Flood Resilience Taskforce and a responsible Minister to overhaul Local Resilience Forums. They will be hearing from you through me."

Isle of Wight Liberal Democrats' Michael Lilley said: "During the floods in 2023, I worked with residents to get a fair deal and raised funds for the most vulnerable and local charities affected.

"The Section 19 Flood report has identified the issues that added to the flooding and needs to be acted upon by the three main agencies involved. 

"The Environment Agency, Southern Water and Island Roads must work in preparation of flooding and introduce the mitigating interventions needed as a collective, not as three individual entities.

"I will be asking the Council to create a task force of the three organisations and create a flood prevention plan for the at risk areas."

For the Isle of Wight Green Party, Vix Lowthion, said: "Climate change is real. But it doesn’t mean that we are going to have hotter summers – we are also going to have wetter winters and unseasonable weather.

"The recent historical flooding and landslip events in East Wight and across the island are going to become more frequent, and on a bigger scale, if we do not limit greenhouse gases through policies which lead us towards net zero emissions.

"As MP for IW East I would support a Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill to reduce emissions in the UK. But we need to do more.

"Green MPs would support a £3billion Climate Adaptation Fund to support vulnerable communities in high risk areas, such as Ventnor, to protect and rebuild."

Sarah Morris, of Reform UK, said: "Many of our problems with flooding are water mismanagement. Ditches, rivers and streams are no longer dredged or cut.

"We haven’t dug any reservoirs to store rain, not only to help stop flooding, but also to prevent the inevitable hose pipe bans.

"There are pieces of land that have been sold to environmental groups, where their interference or lack of maintenance of the land has increased the flood risk.

"(Morton and Leeson Road) Schemes like the one in Simeon Rec where they tried to hold water above ground with a permeable base! Don’t they know, water finds its own level.

"The defences that are built but not used, such as the gates in Simeon Rec, Cowes and Newport, etc."

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Joe Robertson, Isle of Wight Conservative Party candidate, said: "As an IW Councillor I’ve been one of the leading voices speaking up for victims of flooding, which also includes people living in Bembridge and Brading.

"I regularly attend residents meetings and have worked with other Councillors cross-party to try and get residents the compensation they deserve. As MP I would be in a much better position to help make this happen.

"The various organisations – IW Council, Southern Water, Island Roads, Environment Agency and Landowners – must work together more effectively to tackle flooding, and the next MP has a big role to play in achieving this.

"Flood defences, like those at Simeon St Rec in Ryde, must be operated in accordance with their design and not in a haphazard manner."

In Isle of Wight West, parliamentary candidates standing are Green Party's Cameron Palin; Ian Pickering, Reform UK candidate; Richard Quigley, of Island Labour; Conservative Bob Seely; Liberal Democrat's Nick Stuart.

These questions were asked before David Groocock confirmed he would be standing as an independent candidate.