There could hardly be a better place for today's National Flood Forum conference than York Racecourse. After the torrential rains of October and November 2000, large expanses of the racecourse, on Knavesmire, were feet under water.

And the city itself became the focus of international media attention as hundreds of homes were inundated, but many thousands more were saved by flood walls, banks and pumps.

Across the countryside, hundreds more properties were inundated. The Prime Minister himself flew in to York and promised Government action to boost defences.

So has the Government kept its word?

To a certain extent, yes. Some flood defences were repaired after the flood, some new defences are being built and some are in the pipeline. But at other locations badly hit in November 2000, banks, walls and pumps are still nowhere in sight.

In the months after the big flood, urgent repairs were carried out at several places where defences were breached. At Rawcliffe, where more than 100 homes were flooded, a gap in the flood banks was plugged. Flood banks were raised at Barlby, near Selby, and major repairs carried out at Gowdall.

The biggest success in building new defences in our region has come on the River Derwent at Malton, Old Malton and Norton, where the November 2000 floods were the second such disaster in less than two years. After intensive lobbying by residents, work started late last year on new defences, which are due to be watertight within the next month.

Further down the Derwent at Stamford Bridge, another community which was hit by severe flooding twice in less than two years, the Environment Agency is due to start building defences next May. Residents and businesses are hoping work will have progressed enough to protect the community by autumn next year.

Up at Pickering, efforts to defend the community from the beck have proved more problematic, with agreement still not reached on what type of scheme should be built. Along the Ouse, the agency is still unable to assess whether defences need strengthening to prevent another disaster.

A computer model of flows along the Ouse catchment, needed to help decide where defences are needed and in which order of priority, has finally been completed by consultants. But the agency says there are still a "number of unresolved technical issues" which need to be looked at, involving calibration of the model.

The delays have implications for several communities, including the terraced streets around Leeman Road in York, which were just saved from flooding in 2000 by the raised embankments. The river came close to overtopping the banks, and there were also concerns that the banks might not withstand the pressure of the water. The model may eventually help the agency decide whether the banks need raising or strengthening.

Updated: 12:19 Monday, October 28, 2002