With a great reluctance, this singularly pompous waste of space has to face an aggrieved resident - no doubt his driver will get the blame for him undergoing this "car crash" interview...
Here is the Spectators opinion "Nothing has more vividly conveyed the failure of the Environment Agency during this crisis than the lamentable public performances of its current chairman, the former Labour culture secretary Lord (Chris) Smith. His weak, half-shifty, half-arrogant interviews have shown him up to be a man wholly out of touch with the reality of the havoc his agency’s policies have wreaked. His blatherings about a choice between protecting ‘front rooms or farmland’ sums up his failure to understand the countryside, and the fact that most people have looked after both for generations." Doesn't stop him having 11 jobs and drawing a six figure salary from the Environment Agency, apparently.
You would have thought for such a prominent title and position, they could have found a person that didn't resemble a toad to front the organisation....... Parp, parp!
Complete knob!! and that twat Paterson is no better. Folks on the levels were told not to approach him by his security! Whatever you think of him, Prince Charles got in there and listened to the concerns of those affected. Following that visit I have heard (can't remember where so no evidence) that Cameron got a personal call from HRH - presumably he was none too complimentary about the governments response so far - quite right too. The Environment Agency estimated that the 2012/2013 flooding in that area cost some £600 million in lost business, damage to property and so on. Their response - make 600 staff dealing with front line flood protection redundant! Wa...rs the lot of them.
So what should the government do? Stop it raining? These are exceptional weather circumstances and i suspect regardless of what precautions had been taken, the land would still have flooded. Its done it before and will do it again. That's why its called a 'level'. We would do better to ask questions about why houses are built on land that floods rather than trying to change nature.
*raises hand* I know the answer to this one! Is it .... MONEY? What did I win? :smile: (I know, that's the answer to 99 out of every 100 questions asked)
Now I'm just a simple Engineer, so maybe I'm missing something ? But here goes anyway.... The Somerset Levels are at sea level (OK, some bits are marginally above and some bits marginally below). They've flooded since Jesus was a lad. So, even if they dredge the rivers (some of which are man made btw), how will they get the water to flow uphill to the sea?? And another thing.....where's the County Council (or whatever they're called these days) in all this ? They seem to be keeping their heads down and letting the Environment Agency take all the flack. You know....the County Council that ignored the EA's advice to NOT build on the Levels. The County Council that has a Planning Dept. that approves all building developments. The County Council that approves building design. The County Council that collects Community charge. The County Council that should have a Major Incident plan....and lets face it, you don't need to be Nostradamus to predict flooding as being a pretty sure bet "major incident" on the Levels. What are they saying about all this ?????
And all the water that falls on, or drains to the lower land either side of these banks....how does that get into the rivers and out to sea???
This has won my post of the week award because you're absolutely right.Why do some always have to blame others,the weather is a natural phenomenon and therefore not always the fault of the government (hello ) but I do feel very sorry for those that have lost their income and properties nevertheless.
Ah, how our government have shifted responsibility sideways to the EA. Its their fault after all that their budget was cut and they have summarily failed to do more with less. Mr Smith, although not without any responsibility, is being hung out to dry before our very eyes. Whilst the cowering front bench keeps its head down. "wasn't me, it was him". Sometimes shit happens that nothing you can do will prepare you for it. However what they have totally failed to do was manage the response. Slow and indecisive. Too long in stunned denial and not quick enough to snap out of it.
Ever heard of tides? Sea level at low tide is a lot lower than sea level at high tide, especially in the Bristol Channel. The trick is to get the surplus water to flow into the sea every low tide, then stop the sea water from flowing back inland each high tide by closing gates. The Dutch have been keeping land drained this way, even where it is well below high tide level, for centuries. Perhaps natives of Somerset (including me) are not as clever or as well-organised as our Dutch friends.
None taken Andy :wink:......actually quite flattered that you think I might have a degree of some sort........(I don't BTW) Pete1950. Of course I've heard of tides. I'm from a Ramsgate fishing family (maybe that explains my lack of intelligence compared with you :biggrin: ) and my Mum's from the banks of the Severn (Sharpness to be precise). The issue is that not all rivers feeding from the Levels has a Clyse (I think that's the right term for a lock gate at a river mouth ?), so what good will dredging do ? What is it tide wise ?....CMIIW ave.15M (+/- 7.5M from mean SL) twice a day in the Severn estuary (I guess that includes spring & neap tides?) and the Somerset Levels are < Sea level to +20M ("Sea level" being defined as halfway between high and low tide). Not much of a drop in level for drainage (it seems to me...but perhaps I'm wrong?) from even the highest parts of the Levels, to drain such a large area, but everything's doable if you have a mind. It's not only the Dutch BTW...they do it fairly succesfully in the Fens too. The point being, it's not just about dredging, it's about a MUCH bigger investment in land/surface water management and FO big pumps etc. I guess the question is..."is it a National priority?". It probably IS now. A bottle and a half of red down, so I should probably stop now :biggrin:
