On 28 Dec 2015 at 6:10am Clifford wrote:
''The Netherlands has adapted to the changing nature of the threat. Today, the biggest danger is not the sea swallowing the land but the rain overwhelming it. The main focus no longer is building higher dykes and bigger dams, like they did after the 1953 flood. Instead, the Dutch have spent the past decade deepening and widening rivers, creating new side canals that provide extra capacity, and setting aside land as dedicated flood plains.'
Unlike our own dear LDC which cosies up to a developer to build more on the floodplain.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 6:49am Withit wrote:
Clifford , take time to understand what you local EA have done to protect Lewes already several times it's called the Ouse valley catchment area
On 28 Dec 2015 at 6:51am Lopster wrote:
Although I applaud the moving picture emporium development by the railway station I wonder how many remember it being underwater about 10 years ago
On 28 Dec 2015 at 7:18am Social engineer wrote:
The Dutch have developed their engineering skills over several centuries and have greatly increased the land available to them. This will come in handy as they are inviting the world to come and live in their country.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:05am Clifford wrote:
I've heard that kind of confidence before Withit. They're living with the results up north now.
'We need to stop building in at-risk areas, setting those places aside as buffers to protect existing homes.'
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:07am Industrial Archaeologist wrote:
I think you'll find that the decision to "build on the North Street floodplain" was taken way, way back when the Phoenix Ironworks was first built. All that LDC are doing is supporting a redevelopment of a bit of already lost floodplain.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:15am Clifford wrote:
Haven't you noticed Industrial Archaeologist that conditions are worsening? We've got to prepare for the 21st century, not look back to the 19th.
David Rooke, the deputy chief executive of the Environment Agency, has told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Britain needs to look not just at flood defences but greater resilience as Britain moves to “unknown extremes”.
“We are moving from know extremes to unknown extremes,” he said, adding that no country can guarantee against flooding.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:32am Fairmeadow wrote:
So better to build on Old Malling Farm and the Golf Course than on North Street you think, Clifford??
Good point about the new cinema though Lopster - very difficult to stop the Winterborne doing its thing if the rain comes to this area, as it drains a large chunk of the Downs.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:33am landporter wrote:
The area you mention Clifford, is already built on. Knocking North Street down and rebuilding it isn't going to make one iota of difference, so get over that one.
Maybe we should start looking a bit further up or down river to solve the problem. Would a flood barrier be a better option ? What about a series of deeper channels to take the water in the vast areas towards Southease or Hamsey ? Whatever happens, we need to stop the excess water getting here first of all.
Bear in mind, Lewes is only a small town compared to some of the bigger towns and cities up north so will the government/EA spend the cash here?
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:33am Earl of Lewes wrote:
@Lewes - who vehemently denied being a Santon plant - has been very quiet since the development was given the green light. Where are you Lewes? Why don't you have any interest in other local issues?
On 28 Dec 2015 at 9:46am Withit wrote:
How is it nobody wants to listen to what has happened since 2000 , do you research before you spout EofL , Clifford as much as defences are needed for Lewes , what has also happened is change of flood managment / storage up stream and fortunately being a tidal river all we need to is defend every 4 hours and slow the run off , all part of the implemented strategic flood risk assessment , we have already benefited from clever thinking, embrace change don't fight it
On 28 Dec 2015 at 10:18am lewes wrote:
Earl of lewes: I got the decision I wanted so nothing to discuss further on that one. I tend to observe the threads until I find something that I feel ought to be said and on this subject after living in lewes for nearly 4 decades I only remember 1 devestating flood.
Yes, it was awful but I feel that so much work has gone on up and down the ouse valley and the good additional flood defences have been added since so I feel we are as well prepared. The north street quarter will be built 1 storey above the current level which I feel is a great strategy and includes extra flood defences for our town.
In lewes we have a flood issue because of the tidal nature of the river coinciding with heavy rain. I feel awful for the people and families affected in the north and feel that more could and should be done to protect them.
I feel that the lewes area is currently very well protected and that work in the valleys should continue to ensure protection exists to match the threat of future flooding.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 11:31am the old mayor wrote:
Anyone witnessed the council cleaning the drains on a regular basis ?
On 28 Dec 2015 at 12:15pm Dan Dann T' Drainage Man wrote:
They could clean all the gullies - rain 'ud just get t'river faster.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 1:02pm Clifford wrote:
'But the government came under attack from Conservative peer Lord Deben, chairman of the government’s advisory committee on climate change... The committee’s recommendations for “measures which would stop some of the real damage” had not been taken up, he complained.
'That included using the Housing Act to prevent further developments in at-risk areas and giving water companies a statutory role in the planning process.'
On 28 Dec 2015 at 2:09pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
The Environment Agency had 2 men and a van in Winterbourne rec, a couple of weeks before Christmas. They were pottering about in the area for ages, but I don't know what they were doing. They were over by the stream though.
The council quite regularly do the drains in Bell Lane and are always clearing them along the C7.
On 28 Dec 2015 at 3:21pm A Person wrote:
They were putting new grilles on the the culverts I think, ACT. They've also installed a camera over one of them at the point the stream goes underground, presumably so that they can monitor the debris building up. A couple of winters ago the Winterbourne was very close to overtopping the channel at the bottom of Rotten Row, and that would have flooded the rec and presumably also the house nearby. There seems to be a new grille at the entrance to the culvert which passes underneath St Pancras Rd, so presumably this is all designed to stop the Winterbourne flooding near the shop and along The Course.
On 29 Dec 2015 at 9:29am Clifford wrote:
'Sarah Whatmore, professor of environment and public policy at Oxford university, who has led studies on flood defences, said… “There are some areas if people persist with building in known flood-prone areas, we simply won’t be able to protect them. It’s simply not a sensible place to be putting this kind of activity.”'
On 29 Dec 2015 at 1:31pm Pair of Socks wrote:
Ironic that Britain used to have a reputation for fine engineering, yet we find ourselves in deep water!
Equally ironic that we are too self-centered to consider who is actually causing the problem of building in flood risk areas. Most are keen to point the finger of blame at the government, councils and environment agency, rather than themselves.
An initiative by one of our European neighbours requires building all new homes with a view to adapting them for multiple use in the future (this helps to ensure that people are responsible for the additional people they create).
So, the answer? The answer is for ALL of us to change our habits and expectations.
On 29 Dec 2015 at 5:05pm Clifford wrote:
Very interesting, Pair of Socks. And meanwhile, while we are changing 'our habit and expectations' what do you suggest we do about building on flood plains? After all, it's Santon, Lewes District Council and the National Park Authority we'll have to thank for North Street.
On 30 Dec 2015 at 12:54am Damp wrote:
We should be replanting hillsides and preventing farming methods that cause soil erosion, plus not building on flood plain. Narrow deeper channels, nor higher defence walls will not stop water rising up through saturatedground. We need a coordinated long term plan, not the blinkered knee jerk approach we have had over the last few years. George Monbiot writes well on this subject - see his blog or articles in the Guardian. In Lewes district we must guard against any further flood plain development , and though the SDNPA might not like it, talk about the progressive replanting of chalk down land.
On 30 Dec 2015 at 9:18am Withit wrote:
There is a co-ordinated approach , do you local not national research look at the Strategic flood risk assesments, the Ouse valley catchment area and work done to date in those areas , more to be done by farmers agreed , but it's started and it's been working , Lewes is simply in the path of the Ouse by the time it gets there it's too late - look at poor York , where the Ouse has had levies upstream
On 30 Dec 2015 at 9:33am Clifford wrote:
Withit wrote: 'There is a co-ordinated approach...'
... which includes building homes on a flood plain?
On 30 Dec 2015 at 10:54am Withit wrote:
Yes that is right - that is called the local plan consulted on since 1997