http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26148379
"Treasury rules will come under scrutiny too. Every £1 spent on flood defences gives £8 of benefit. Yet other schemes - like a relief road in Hastings - have no proven benefit. "
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Floods, roads and politics
(12 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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Things we learned in February; drained marshland, coastal saltmarsh, land below sea level, and urban areas built on flood plains are all prone to flooding.
Posted 10 years ago # -
And this from David Hembrow: Why does Britain flood more readily than the Netherland?
http://davidhembrow.blogspot.nl/2014/02/why-does-britain-flood-more-readily.html
Basically: risk appetite.
Also, I see that, during the debate on the Exeter to Plymouth Railway in 2010, Norman Baker said this in respect of the Dawlish sea wall and Network Rail's responsibilities:
"Network Rail is fully aware of the importance of the section of coastal main line between Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren. I understand that around £9 million has been invested in recent years to maintain the integrity of the sea wall and the stability of the cliff face. Network Rail does not believe that the railway sea defences in the Dawlish area are likely to fail in the foreseeable future, thanks to the works carried out and ongoing maintenance and monitoring."
and later on:
"A number of suggestions have been made about building alternative routes away from the coast or reopening former railway lines such as the Exeter-Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth line. As I have pointed out, any solution cannot ignore the needs of south Devon and Torbay, so reopening that line alone would not meet one of our key objectives. That is not to say, however, that if the line were to open, it would not be welcome. It would be welcome but, in our view, it would not be a substitute in any shape or form for the main line along the coast."
Basically: risk appetite.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Things we learned in February;
You vote Tory you get flooded?
/UKIP logic.
Posted 10 years ago # -
And Dave Cameron's "Money is no object..."
Well I suppose money is no object if we're talking about Tory home-counties voters.
Meanwhile, the rest of us [ordinary people] have to suffer swingeing 'austerity' cuts, rampant inflation & static wages.
GO DAVE!
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Things we learned..."
True, but there are also issues of 'weather variation' (for anyone who doesn't believe that the "climate" has changed - with or without human influence) - ie more rain than it was reasonable to predict(?)
The aftermath will be interesting.
It will be 'easy' to say 'well that really was a 1 in 200 year event' and so not a lot needs to be done (until next year...)
There will be some serious pressure to 'never build on flood plains again'. This of course will clash with commercial pressures and 'we need more houses to be built where people want to live'.
Part of the (on-going) problem is not just 'building in stupid places without allowing for the consequences', but building (and tarmacing) without adequately adding suitable drainage.
The insurance companies will have a lot (more) to say about all this.
There will be lots of discussions about 'farming methods', hedges (re-planting?), SUDS, dredging etc. etc.
No simple answers, no cheap answers.
Will the views of those currently affected outweigh those of people who have been 'protected' by previous flood prevention measures? It's almost inevitable that some measures will increase the dangers downstream.
'Cost benefit' is not an exact science, but I think the 8 to 1 Treasury rule for the EA will have to be looked at - though it might be useful to apply it to transport projects!!
Meanwhile in Edinburgh -
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/4519/river_flow_and_flooding
Posted 10 years ago # -
No simple answers, no cheap answers.
Our national debate demands simple answers, complexity cannot be contained in a headline or a soundbite. Scapegoats are always useful too.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Scapegoats are always useful too."
Chris Smith or Eric Pickles?...
Posted 10 years ago # -
David Hembrow noted that the Dutch have built with a 50-year-strong policy of designing for a 1 in 10000 year storm surge. It seems to me that they can build houses in Flevoland quite satisfactorily.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"God made the world, the Dutch made Holland" As the old nautical saying goes.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Posted 10 years ago #
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Radio 4 suggested that the "money is no object" comment wasn't an open cheque and that there is an environment agency underspend which can take care of much of it.
Posted 10 years ago #
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