Stopping the floods - time to think out of the box
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The pundits keep telling us that continuing economic growth is a "good" and that, that "good" is related to continued population growth for a whole raft of reasons which the pundits identify as positive factors.Looking at the floods around here and listening
to the calls for yet more house building in ever more places could I be forgiven for wondering if the economic "experts" and our politicians are talking about economic growth and population growth out of the wrong orifices?0 -
It's a matter of balance. Any defensive scheme is based on probability/cost ratio. Chuck enough cash at it and you can have a bulletproof system but is that realistic and are we prepared to pay for something that may never be needed? Recent rainfall has
been unprecedented. The question is do we or should we plan for anticipated or unprecedented.Write your comments here...Noah comes to mind.
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Planning, shows how good planning is when you only need to look at the roads,how many pedestrian crossings are on junctions?
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It's a matter of balance. Any defensive scheme is based on probability/cost ratio. Chuck enough cash at it and you can have a bulletproof system but is that realistic and are we prepared to pay for something that may never be needed? Recent rainfall has
been unprecedented. The question is do we or should we plan for anticipated or unprecedented.I think the answer is somewhere between anticipated and unprecedented, CY, having revised the calculations in the light of recent experience.
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The only logical place for a pedestrian crossing is where people would cross, even if there was no crossing. Otherwise some will continue to cross there anyway
Odd that - only yesterday, driving along Perranporth high street, we had to stop twice for idiots crossing within about 20 yards of the two zebra crossings!!
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Getting back to flooding, the Thames barrier cost £534 million pounds in the 1980s also another £100 million spent on river defences. Spending was cut in 2010 on flood defences by 27% by the coalition. If that doesn't say anything I will not eat my hat.
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Planning, shows how good planning is when you only need to look at the roads,how many pedestrian crossings are on junctions?
We have a pedestrian crossing near a junction where we live, it is well used and is great as it makes leaving the side road much easier, and much cheaper than traffic lights that were asked for by the locals
Write your comments here...
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Do you think our problems are a “once-off”?
We have been told that various disasters have been the exception over the past twenty years, yet such things seem to be becoming more frequent. There is always a resistance to change, usually preferring to stick with the “devil we know”, but how long will
it take to realise that the status quo is not necessarily the best way forward.Why do we stubbornly reapply old solutions when they have been shown to be flawed? They may have been well-considered at the time, but circumstances change and we ought to change accordingly.
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It's a matter of balance. Any defensive scheme is based on probability/cost ratio. Chuck enough cash at it and you can have a bulletproof system but is that realistic and are we prepared to pay for something that may never be needed? Recent rainfall has
been unprecedented. The question is do we or should we plan for anticipated or unprecedented.Write your comments here...Noah comes to mind.
His was both unprecedented AND anticipated.
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I think since the floods on the Somerset levels some have woken up to the facts ,but as has been said by several professional people over the last couple of years, rather than the "experts" of the past,we will have to do more towards reducing the damage to property by making them flood resistant ,as no amount of money will eliminate the problem,York is a classic example of local "experts" not doing anything when it was already known that the Foss barrier pumps and equipment was vulnerable because of rising water levels
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To be fair JVB, I don't think it was the Somerset levels flooding that woke people up, but the dozens and dozens of times places like York, Pickering, SW Scotland, Cumbria etc.... have flooded. And the sea wall at Dawlish collapsing, there was another predictable,
waiting to happen!The Somerset levels are just that. A gigantic flood plain artificially reclaimed, and overwhelmed by poor maintenance last year. Not called the Isle of Avalon by chance.
People of Pickering, including local politicians were keen to show Liz Truss what had been done to protect their town, that used to flood very badly on a regular basic. Environmental work up on the moors has kept them safe this time. Was LT interested in
scheme? No, not really. Hardly registered with her and the handrags around her. They don't listen, they don't really care. It is all reaction, not prevention, at least on the scale it should be.0 -
JVB could you explain to me how can you build,do maintenance with a reducing amount of money, we are supposedly going in an upward direction so why isn't money available.
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JVB could you explain to me how can you build,do maintenance with a reducing amount of money, we are supposedly going in an upward direction so why isn't money available.
Md..you do not seem to be in touch with the environment agency updates since we started to recover from the greedy bankers fiasco, and the professionals rather than the "experts" of the past
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It started when some people who really knew what they talking about, to be listened to after Tewksbury and Gloucester floods,but then came the Banking crisis which stopped just about investment in anything that was not already started, But as I said local "experts" who bury their heads in the sand as has happened at York
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JVB it doesn't matter what experts you have, as I said earlier the flood money was reduced by 27% according to an article in yesterday's Gaurdian, and they have been cutting it since 2010.
One could also question why is the £52bn HS2 'vanity project' being prioritised over and above the need for new and vastly improved flood defences for the UK.
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To be fair JVB, I don't think it was the Somerset levels flooding that woke people up, but the dozens and dozens of times places like York, Pickering, SW Scotland, Cumbria etc.... have flooded. And the sea wall at Dawlish collapsing, there was another predictable,
waiting to happen!The Somerset levels are just that. A gigantic flood plain artificially reclaimed, and overwhelmed by poor maintenance last year. Not called the Isle of Avalon by chance.
People of Pickering, including local politicians were keen to show Liz Truss what had been done to protect their town, that used to flood very badly on a regular basic. Environmental work up on the moors has kept them safe this time. Was LT interested in
scheme? No, not really. Hardly registered with her and the handrags around her. They don't listen, they don't really care. It is all reaction, not prevention, at least on the scale it should be..One thing you have to take into account when any government minister, who ever is in power ,is on a "meet and greet"they have no real concept of real life outside the " hallowed"walls of politics, it is left to the "yes minister" staff to actually implement
what can be accomplished with what info they can glean from those in the real world0 -
JVB it doesn't matter what experts you have, as I said earlier the flood money was reduced by 27% according to an article in yesterday's Gaurdian, and they have been cutting it since 2010.
One could also question why is the £52bn HS2 'vanity project' being prioritised over and above the need for new and vastly improved flood defences for the UK.
e...The guardian enough said
not getting thread shut but why after 2010 was it when the they looked at the books
PS I agree about HS2 as do most of my ex colleagues
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Is that the best retort you can give me?! Not sure what you are trying to say. I will retire from what could be an interesting discussion as the thread might be shutdown.
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The answer is........................STOP BUILDING ON FLOOD PLAINS!!!!
And if you're stupid enough to buy a house that is built on a flood plain, stop moaning about getting your feet wet. Oh and either build and/or fund the flood defences yourselves, why should the tax payer fund it.
Hope that is clear enough!
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The answer is........................STOP BUILDING ON FLOOD PLAINS!!!!
And if you're stupid enough to buy a house that is built on a flood plain, stop moaning about getting your feet wet. Oh and either build and/or fund the flood defences yourselves, why should the tax payer fund it.
Hope that is clear enough!
Write your comments here...Taxpayers have already paid for the Flood defences, only the Government has spent the money on other things....Like propping up the Banks.(that should have been allowed to fail) use Bob Diamonds fortune to fund Yorks flood defences.Or
Godwins Pension pot. Plenty of spare cash there.0 -
It’s not just flood plains (how many are there in Cumbria?). I’m sure that flooding arises from many things and it’s common to want to blame them all on someone else. We have been content to cover the land with more and more hard surfaces without much concern
for the consequences. Any rain landing on it flows away immediately rather than sinking into the soil to flow away later. Those surfaces vary from the paving for off-road parking, expansion of the road network, and even paths up into the fells. As we become
more populated such activities are unlikely to diminish yet they are some that we have more direct control over than the weather.0 -
The answer is........................STOP BUILDING ON FLOOD PLAINS!!!!
And if you're stupid enough to buy a house that is built on a flood plain, stop moaning about getting your feet wet. Oh and either build and/or fund the flood defences yourselves, why should the tax payer fund it.
Hope that is clear enough!
Write your comments here...DS 3 who do you think payed and continue to pay for the sea defences after the 1953 floods in Lincolnshire? do you think that the taxpayer should stop paying for those and let the residents of Lincolnshire pay for them ? or just
be prepared to get your feet wet.0 -
I watched 'Waterworld' last night. I thought it was a 'real-life' documentary on the recent floods until I realised that the farmer they were following was Kevin Costner. He doesn't live in the lake district..
What?
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FYI it is raining again here in Yorkshire.Last night I had a delayed,cold ,wet and bumpy ride home from Huddersfield on our antediluvian local Pacer train service with water running in through the windows and all along the carriage floors- hence being a
tad resentful about constant cuts to infrastructure spending "up North".I squelched my way home down sodden,unlit paths only to see the misery that the Scots and the Lakes District endured that night on the TV.0 -
Cheer up KE, I understand we are getting some of London's cast off carriages in the not too distant future.
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Cheer up KE, I understand we are getting some of London's cast off carriages in the not too distant future.
Write your comments here...breathless with the anticipation of such largesse from our "betters" ,TDA!
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