MP calls for one group to tackle flood prevention

“ShireMe agree with much of what you have posted except the hydroelectric part - won't comment further on that as it is a complex issue.

But flood alleviation - local balancing ponds, reservoirs, etc, much talked about - the real issue here is that ground water geology and land drainage is a hugely complex issue and lower lying areas of Britain have been flood prone and occasional floods did not matter a lot in the past on agricultural land but it does in built up areas. The development process, additional roads, etc destroy ancient land contours and subsoil drains which restrict flows even more.

With climate change accelerating unless there is a national drive to work out technical fixes - building up land levels, creating through channels for flood flows with pumping stations, etc, etc, and also new standards for building foundations, etc, some of the palliatives now accepted will just not work. The flood situation needs an integrated cross-country approach - and linked to local planning and this needs to be taken up by a national agency with teeth rather than the fragmented manner dealt with by planning authorities now.”

“IMHO the problem is flood management is always reactive - the UK has, for the sake of economic development, prioritised the monetisation of land by means of the mass development of housing units with scant consideration of the needs of the wider environment. If by means of regulation, say a form of Section 106, developers had to provide money for development of better flood amelioration schemes - say improving water courses, underground water storage/ balancing ponds or lakes to account for decreased water retention of the ground and increased runoff due to the impermeable surfaces created by new developments, this would be a start.

Funding for reactive flood defenses should be pulled as ultimately they just push problems downstream and create problems there (which cost further money to fix) instead begin construction of reservoirs, water storage facilities, and overflow courses at points of watercourses and rivers known to feed downstream issues, the byproduct being that such sites would not only be able to help minimise the variance of river flow and therefore reduce the effect of flooding, but the sites could be used to produce hydroelectricity to help pay back the costs of such construction.

The problem needs a holistic solution and Im not sure that merely centralising responsibility for the issue will be enough unless the agency concerned has some serious powers to effect change.”

“Handing over responsibility to the Environment Agency quango would not be very helpful Mr. Robertson. John Major set the agency up as a way of removing direct input from local councils into these vital issues, its' first task was to cut the costs of the services it provides. Perhaps the MP could try the Canute approach to global warming and sit in a throne on Tewkesbury Ham ordering the waters to recede. It would provide this paper with a not to be missed photo opportunity and Mr. Robertson with yet more publicity for making a lot of noise and doing nothing.”

“How's about using the MoD?
Soon there'll be tens of thousands of redundant soldiers from Afghanistan looking for something to do.(If you believe Dodgy Dave).
If we have any ships left they would be invaluable at sorting out the dredging (with minor adaptions).
You know who could run a helicopter delivery service for meals and aggregates.
This will also save job redundancies in the ministry and ensure the pen pushers get full pensions (unlike the previously mentioned soldiers,sailors and airmen).
We don't need an extra department. Use what we have!”