maybe if the water companies were managed properly and reinvested their profits into proper infrastructure before they paid out bonus's and dividends there would be no need for hose pipe bans it is totally unjustifiable paying out a bonus when they have failed in their prime job of supplying water, if there is a hose pipe ban it is quite obviouis that the companies have not been managed properly and maybe a P45 would be more appropriate than a bonus
As long as the share holders get a reasonable return on their investment and ofwat allow water companies to increase prices above inflation there will be no incentive for the water companies to improve performance, when investment returns are less attractive then bonus payments will be stopped by the shareholders. ofwat is supposed to protect consumers but only seems to protect the companies and shareholders, could they have a vested interest?.
I have been very diligent in my efforts to conserve water - I never add it to my whisky!! I even ride an air-cooled Ducati. I like to think I have done my bit to stave off hosepipe bans in our region.
Anybody who chooses to buy a new house built on a flood-plain, and with a low-set ground floor, can hardly be surprised whenever they get flooded. Was there any special reason why your mate had to buy in such an unsuitable place - or is he just a dimwit?
Where else is a ground floor supposed to go other than the lower floor ....or is that you just being a dimwit ? Let's just hope it never happens to you eh.......
Actually it is rather less likely to happen to me, because I took care to buy a house with the ground floor set 2 or 3 feet higher than any likely flood level. Some houses are constructed with the ground floor level set right down level with the ground outside, or even lower (a 'low-set ground floor'). Other houses are built with floor levels slightly higher up, as a precaution against flooding, like mine. Which is the more sensible design do you think, xxAnthxx? Which would you choose? And which did your mate choose? Still sorry to hear of his misfortune, though.
Smug is the word I am looking for, oh gosh so am I we are on a slight hill even though we are only 50 metres from the sea. I have to say that if you move to a new area you have to trust the builders to build on acceptable land, and perhaps it is not the fault of the purchaser. Where we are the new builds have shifted the flood area and we are only just learning to where, and for some strange reason estate agents do not feel the need to tell you that the house you are looking at is suddenly liable to flood, you need to check with insurance companies before you make the purchase they seem to have the most information regarding this matter.
I've been flooded twice, the second time deliberately. Now that all the flood plains have been built on, there's nowhere for the rainwater to go. All the authorities can do is close/open lock gates to ensure the same area doesn't get hit every time. It's not their fault, it's the departments responsible for granting planning permission on flood plains that want shooting.
Btw, I lost 5 bikes in the last flood in 2001, only one of which was insured. They were all sh*tters, mind.
In a small village not far from where I live planners gave permission for a small development, the locals said at the time that this was on the sight of the village pond but they built anyway, a couple of years later when we had some heavy rain the whole sight flooded the end result was the houses that were most affected were demolished. At least they got one thing right in the end, one thought to consider is that the planning departments have no historic knowledge or interest in the areas that they give planning consent for, it could well be a case of as long as its not in my back yard.
How pinko do you really have to be to consider that something as basic as water ought to belong to everyone, not be sold for a profit? Does that mean that if they found some way of privatising air that it would be a good plan? As long as you're trying to make a profit out of water, you have no incentive to repair leaks. Nationalise it.
