Some very interesting examples in the article.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/25/what-flood-proof-city-china-dhaka-houston
Category Archives: Flooding
“Study: mild floods are declining, but intense floods are on the rise”
“… What this study does is to show, using just data and no model projections, that flood risk is indeed increasing but at the rare to very-rare flood end. The milder floods that are more of a nuisance than a threat to property and lives, are actually decreasing. This is worse news than before though, as it is these milder floods that make up the bulk of the refill to our water supply reservoirs.”
“The real villains in Harvey flood: urban sprawl and the politicians who allowed it”
“Houston has quietly become [the USA’s] fourth largest and fastest-growing city, due in large part to cheap housing. But the latter has come at an exorbitant cost to its safety. The swamps and wetlands that once characterized Houston’s hinterland have been replaced with strip malls and suburban tract homes.
Those landscapes once served as a natural flood protection system for the city. Research shows that, if they hadn’t been filled and developed, Harvey’s impact would have been lessened. Sam Brody and his colleagues at Texas A&M University in Galveston have been predicting an event like this for nearly a decade. That their work went unheeded by Texas policymakers should not be forgotten.
Worse, a generation of civic leaders have completely deregulated Houston’s land development market. In that process, they helped build a far-flung network of poor neighborhoods on top of a swamp. In Houston, there is a simple truth: the poorer you are, the closer you live to a petrochemical plant and the likelier your home is to flood.
There will be an impulse to elide past the political choices that led us to this point. We shouldn’t allow our politicians to use the use Harvey’s victims as human shields by pronouncing that now is not the time for criticism or blame. There’s never been a more important time to understand the political machinations that led to Harvey’s destructiveness, and to do everything in our power to dismantle them. …
Coastal infrastructure is incredibly expensive to build and nearly impossible to maintain, especially when you realize that the maintenance is borne entirely by local governments – none of which have the financial or technical capacity to do so effectively.
Some have already begun to point to Holland, where the world’s most complex flood control system operates, and to proclaim that if the Dutch do it, so can the United States. This simply isn’t true.
The Netherlands has a much higher tax rate, giving it more resources per person to invest in its infrastructure. Dutch storms are also less intense and bring lower surge heights and less rainfall than their American counterparts.
For a lasting recovery, Houston will need to supplement whatever barrier system it builds with a broader, regional network of wetlands, retention ponds, and green infrastructure to restore the once-robust, natural flood protection lost to a half-century of urban sprawl.
Designers have been calling for such an approach since Ike made landfall. Houston should look to New York’s landscape architect-led recovery process as a model worthy of consideration.
A half-century of bad design choices and impotent planning led Houston to this crisis. Now, it’s up to a new generation of Houstonians to do what their predecessors could not – prepare the Magnolia City to rise up and meet its wetter future head on. …”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/real-villains-harvey-flood-urban-sprawl
Flood standards – a familiar tale with shades of Grenfell Tower – what happens when business trumps safety
“Hurricane Harvey has caused huge damage in Texas as 30 inches of rain in less than 48 hours resulted in massive flooding.
The current US President, however, has abolished a number of flood standards in an attempt to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly. The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard is among those to have been rolled back.
In 2015, Mr Obama introduced measures that made it harder to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure in areas that were susceptible to flooding. Plans for such projects would legally have to take into account the impact of climate change and be built to withstand future changes.
While the new regulations had not yet come into effect, they have now been scrapped entirely after Mr Trump decided they were too likely to slow down plans for new infrastructure.
Announcing the decision earlier in August, the billionaire businessman said: “We’re going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, relatively speaking, and the permitting process will go very, very quickly.”
“It’s going to be a very streamlined process, and by the way, if it doesn’t meet environmental safeguards, we’re not going to approve it.”
However, some of those safeguards have now been removed. The order also introduces a two-year time limit for permission to be granted for major infrastructure projects, in which Mr Trump has pledged to invest $1 trillion.
The move was praised by business groups but strongly opposed by environmentalists.”
Flooding – the past doesn’t predict the future
“Nearly every major city and town in Europe is built on a river and we protect this urban infrastructure by using past floods as a gauge of the potential risk,” said Mark Maslin, Professor of Climatology at University College London.
“The study shows that this approach underestimates the risk, as climate change has made European floods occur earlier in the year, increasing their potential impact.
“This means all the infrastructure that we have built to protect our cities needs to be reviewed as much of it will be inadequate to protect us from future climate change-induced extreme flooding. … “
River Otter restoration ‘could cost £40 million’
Four options of which:
“Dr Sam Bridgewater, Clinton Devon Estates’ Head of Wildlife and Conservation, said: “In coming up with the four options, we have ruled out a number of alternatives which are either impossible to fund, or the partners feel do not meet our requirement to safeguard the future of the estuary for the benefit of local people, wildlife and the environment. …
“At present, the long-term future of the cricket club, part of the South West Coast Path and access to homes and businesses in the South Farm Road area are under threat from the impacts of flooding and poor drainage. We hope that this project will be able to address these issues, improve the natural environment and ensure that the area remains accessible in the future to the many thousands of people who visit and enjoy the estuary each year.
“We have been gathering feedback at the exhibition to find out what people think of the options. We’re also putting all of the exhibition material on the project website, so people who couldn’t get to the event on the day can go online to learn more, and also download a feedback form to send back to us.
The exhibition material is available at:
http://www.lowerotterrestorationproject.co.uk/events.
Dr Bridgewater added: “Feedback from the public will help inform our decision about which option will be the best one to take forwards. Once we’ve analysed the feedback, we’ll share our findings with the Lower Otter Restoration Project Stakeholder Group and the public.
“At the same time, we are seeking financial support from a number of bodies which would enable us to move forward with the project.”
TIMELINE
Identify a preferred option Summer 2017
Develop an outline design Sept – Oct 2017
Second public exhibition October 2017
Develop business case End of 2017
Submit planning application 2018 – 2019
Construction 2019 – 2021
“Nine tenths of England’s floodplains not fit for purpose, study finds”
With EDDC allowing building on flood plains all over the district – a timely warning:
“Only a tenth of England’s extensive floodplains are now fit for purpose – 90% no longer function properly – with the shortfall putting an increasing number of homes and businesses at risk of flooding, according to a new report.
Floods are more likely due to climate change and will claim higher economic costs unless action is taken to halt the damage to floodplains and restore some of their functions, warned the authors of the 12-month study – the first to paint a comprehensive view of England’s floodplains and their capabilities.
“We have ignored our floodplains,” said George Heritage of Salford University, co-author of the study the Changing Face of Floodplains, published by Co-Op Insurance on Thursday. “The changes to them mean water [from heavy rainfall] can flow much faster downstream, and can flow at the same speed as the water in the rivers.”
This accelerated flow has led to sudden and unstoppable deluges in recent years. For instance, Storm Desmond in 2015 affected more than 6,000 homes as rivers and streams burst their banks and spread water over floodplains. As these natural floodplains had been altered by man-made features, they no longer had the ability to store water, leading to rapid flows into urban areas which led to the devastation.
Storm Desmond caused more than £500m in damages, and misery for families excluded from their homes sometimes for months. The UK’s flooding bills are on the rise, with scientists warning of rocketing numbers of cloudbursts and periods of sudden and intense rainfall as climate change takes effect.
Floodplains act as natural “sponges”, soaking up excess water in their vegetation, forming natural buffers that hold back or divert rushing water after rain, and providing areas where rivers can breach their banks and wetlands can be replenished.
Intensive agriculture, increasing urbanisation, poor management of rivers and the draining of wetlands have left the vast majority of these natural features – many previously preserved for centuries by communities who understood their value – unable to fulfil these valuable functions, with some close to collapse.
Building on floodplains has been singled out for years as a key problem, but perhaps surprisingly was found to contribute only about a tenth of the damage in the study. Far greater is intensive farming, which has created artificially “smooth” and uniform landscapes, with hedgerows removed, large areas given over to single crops, wetlands drained and woods and grassland diminished. Farming accounts for nearly two-thirds of the loss of functioning floodplains, according to the study.
Natural floodplains cover about 5% of England, from upland areas and tablelands to low-lying marshes, such as the Somerset levels and the East Anglian fens. Once they were used for grazing for parts of the year, or left uncultivated. However, the exploitation of such areas accelerated in the middle of the last century, when wetlands were drained, hedgerows grubbed up and small farms gave way to bigger farming enterprises.
Today, the report found, 90% of England’s floodplains no longer function properly, with 65% modified by agriculture “meaning they’re now man-made, smoother surfaces”; 9% lost to urban and suburban building developments; 4% are now occupied by open water and 6% by semi-natural woodland and rough grassland; and only 0.5% is now natural or semi-natural wetland.
“It would be almost impossible to return the altered areas to their original state,” noted Heritage. “But it is possible to work with farmers to introduce features that would allow them to function better. …”
Twiss and shout in Feniton
Phil Twiss is hoping to follow in the footsteps of disgraced fellow Tory Graham Brown, and latterly independent councillor Claire Wright to represent the ward of Feniton and Honiton in the forthcoming County Council elections.
Leaflets currently adding to EDDC’s recycling efforts include a testimonial from MP Neil Parish that “Phil will be an asset in a number of matters, such as helping positively to continue with the work put together, to make Feniton more secure from flooding”.
Strangely there seems to be no room to acknowledge Graham Brown’s inability to get a flood scheme going for Feniton, Claire Wright’s dogged success in ensuring that the scheme was not forgotten, and independent District Councillor Susie Bond’s determination and success in getting the £1.6m programme implemented. Not to mention Susie Bond’s tireless work as a flood warden and information broadcaster each time danger has struck the village.
Any “continuation” is totally down to the efforts of these two ladies.
Whether Mr Twiss is willing to acknowledge their contribution on the stump remains to be seen.
Readers will recall it was Mr Twiss who, in 2014, took offence at a metaphor on Ms Wright’s blog about the need to “cull” Conservatives in East Devon.
Police subsequently declined to investigate. Hardly surprising since Conservative Leader David Cameron used the word in exactly the same sense in 2012:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/04/david-cameron-cabinet-reshuffle-deliver
Truth or post-truth in Feniton’s election?
Parish queries flood risk terminology
“TWO South West MPs have called to rid the flooding terminology “one in 100 years” for fears it is misleading.
Rebecca Pow, and Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton and chairman for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Committee, spoke during a House of Commons debate on Defra spending.
MP Neil Parish said that flood prevention work is “fragmented” and warned of the threats posed by very high levels of rainfall in a short period of time.
MP Parish said his committee had examined the term “one in 100 years flood”.
He said: “One of the problems is that if you have been flooded now and you are in a one in a 100 years risk, if you’re not careful people are inclined to think for another 99 years they’ll be safe from floods.
“Of course that is not the case – it’s very much the case if you’re in a high flood risk area you remain in that high flood risk area either until better defences are created or there is resilience measures put in place.
“But you’ll probably always remain in a pretty high risk area.”
Rebecca Pow, said: “Communication is very important in the case of flooding.
“One of the things that came out of that select committee report was perhaps we shouldn’t use this terminology any more – calling things a one in 100 years flooding incident.
“We should have a different way of warning people about how serious floods are without these years attached to them, as it’s misleading.”
Mr Parish said Ms Pow was “absolutely right”.”
http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/15121299.display/
(Greater) Exeter area rainfall expected to increase by 73% say researchers
“The trend of paving over gardens is putting Exeter homes at risk of flooding as the city is set to see a 73 per cent increase in rain, and paved gardens could see the city’s drains overwhelmed. …”
One can presume that this includes the East Devon area. Cranbrook is already a concrete jungle and those close to rivers or on flood plains will be particularly hard hit.
And just imagine the effect on properties around it of building on and paving over the proposed Sidford Industrial estate, not to mention its effect on the River Sid!
“Major flooding in UK now likely every year, warns lead climate adviser”
“Major flooding in the UK is now likely to happen every year but ministers still have no coherent long-term plan to deal with it, the government’s leading adviser on the impacts of climate change has warned. …
… Krebs also said ministers would regret cutting flood protection measures for new homes. New laws passed earlier in 2016 aim to drive the building of 1m new homes but Krebs, an independent member of the House of Lords, said he was disappointed ministers had rejected proposals to cut the risk of the homes flooding and make them cheap to heat.
“The imperative to build more homes was overriding anything that might get in the way and I think the housebuilders got at the Department for Communities and Local Government to say all of this is going to be costly and difficult,” he said.
“It isn’t [costly] really, but they just want to get on and build homes according to the bog-standard, simple template and not have to worry about whether the development is sustainable in terms of carbon footprint and flood risk. In 20 years time, people will look back and say, ‘What were they thinking?’”
Politics South West: pigs ears, economy with the truth and foxes
Click here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08401p5/sunday-politics-south-west-11122016
for more on the Bermuda … whoops … Golden Triangle LEP described by one MP as a “pig’s ear” … (with Sajid David denying saying something that it is shown he said)
Angela Peddar of the [Lack of] Success Regime saying that it has no plans to cut anything … and then talks about cutting services …
Bringing back fox-hunting (so important in this crisis-ridden world …
and more promises on rail lines and avoiding flooding.
Best get a stiff drink first … it isn’t pretty.
“Last winter’s flooding ‘most extreme on record’ in UK”
“Flooding across parts of the UK last winter was the most extreme on record, experts have said.
Gales and heavy rain swept across large parts of the UK, causing devastating flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire, as well as parts of southern Scotland.
On the first anniversary of Storm Desmond, experts say November to January were the wettest three months since UK records began in 1910.
Review author Terry Marsh said flooding was “extensive and repetitive”.
Storm Desmond began battering parts of the UK on 5 December, depositing a record month’s worth of rain on Cumbria in just one day.
About 5,200 homes were flooded in Cumbria and Lancashire, while tens of thousands more lost power after an electricity sub-station in Lancaster was flooded.
The storm caused an estimated insurance bill of more than £1.3bn.
Major storms “Abigail”, “Frank” and “Gertrude” also hit the UK last winter.”
Save Clyst St Mary update – November 2016
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
A big thank you for all the emails of support that we have received in the last few days regarding the latest planning application for development proposals for the Friends Provident site. We are currently working our way through this latest planning application. Although we remain open minded to the eventual solution to the site, we currently have grave reservations regarding these proposals for Winslade Manor and the Stables because the developer hasn’t offered any solution to a number of key National Planning policies such as :
-The loss of the leisure facilities (Stables Club) that were closed down at the end of 2015
-The flooding that has continued to occur at the site and the proposals to build houses and industrial buildings in the areas that frequently flood. (As I am writing this email I have just been advised of the closure of the A376 due to flooding!)
-The fact that our village remains unsustainable for such a significant population increase, having only one shop and a pub
-Lack of public transport links and the scale of congestion that already occurs on a daily basis (set to be exacerbated by the poorly considered location to the entrance by our Village Hall)
-The proposed site sits outside of the current approved Built Up Area Boundary
These are just a few of the examples and valid reasons why the proposals won’t enhance our village; worryingly, the proposed scheme has many other areas where we have serious concerns.
We have started writing some template letters of objection which you may want to use. We hope to be able to email them to you within the next week. Moreover, we understand that the Parish Council may be arranging a Public Meeting at the beginning of December to further discuss the planning application. As soon as we get a date and time, you will be informed.
FOUL ODOUR
East Devon District Council’s Environment Department is currently conducting a survey of households within our neighbourhood regarding the odours that were omitted from Enfield Farm and the anaerobic digester. Hopefully, since the last major problem five weeks ago, things have considerably improved. We have been told that this should finally solve the ‘odour issue’ that has annoyed residents for so long.
Wasn’t Cranbrook supposed to be flood-free?
This is a photograph purported to be from Cranbrook appearing on the Express and Echo website. Note the houses to the left of the image:
Police Commissioner’s £500,000 move down the drain – literally
““Storm Angus has flooded the controversial new offices of the Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner.
Staff only moved in three months ago as part of a £500,000 renovation project of the suite at police headquarters in Exeter. But they’ve been forced to move out today. It’s thought leaves clogged drains on the roof, leading water to pour in.
A source told us there was considerable damage, and it wasn’t clear how long it would take before the offices would be in use again.”
BBC Devon live website
Proposed Sidford Industrial estate – flooding issues
Being planned on older flooding regulations because the application went in before they changed.
Today’s newspaper:
“The A375 between Sidford and Sidbury road is partially flooded and difficult driving conditions are reported on the A375 Sidbury Hill in both directions. Cotford and Woolbrook Road are also flooded.”
The Environment Agency is already in trouble for not spending money it was allocated for natural flood prevention schemes.
What about unnatural flood increase schemes?
If you had a child car seat that you bought a while ago that was declared unsafe for children under new regulations, would you continue to use it?
Why are developers allowed to ignore new regulations if their planning applications went in before changes which are designed to keep people and property safer?
UPDATE 5 pm: “The A375 is closed at Sidbury due to flooding and a landslip.”
Devon worst hit by Storm Angus weather and floods – but little money for future prevention
“The government has been accused of being “all talk and no action” on flood defences, as the first named storm of the season brought flooding and power cuts to the south of England.
Storm Angus saw gusts of up to 106mph recorded 23 miles off the coast of Margate, while gusts of 80mph hit Langdon Bay, also in Kent.
While Met Office weather warnings connected with Storm Angus expired at 1pm on Sunday as the storm moved out to the North Sea, a new series of warnings were issued for Monday and Tuesday for heavy rain in south-west England, parts of northern England and Wales.
Andy Page, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said Devon was likely to be most affected. “Although the more persistent rain should clear from Devon by early afternoon, heavy and possibly thundery showers are likely to follow,” he said.
UK government not funding natural flood prevention methods
“Around 20-30mm of rain is expected fall in a three- to six-hour period in places, with as much as 40-60mm possible locally through the whole of Monday. The ground has been left very wet from Saturday night’s rain and this increases the risk of further flooding.”
Page added that the band of rain affecting parts of southern England and Wales on Monday would extend to parts of northern England later on Monday and into Tuesday morning.
The warnings came as the government was accused of failing to deliver on promises to fund “natural” flood management schemes such as planting trees.
A freedom of information request by the environmental group Friends of the Earth to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) revealed that there was no funding earmarked specifically for natural flood management, despite ministers saying they would fund such measures.
Natural flood management schemes aim to slow the movement of water downstream to prevent flooding. This can involve creating water storage such as ponds, planting trees along water courses and restoring rivers to their original meandering path.
In his budget in March, then-chancellor George Osborne announced an extra £700m for “innovative flood defence measures”. Friends of the Earth understands that former floods minister Rory Stewart earmarked £20m for natural flood defences before he left Defra in the June reshuffle.
In a recent letter to environmental charities, the environment secretary, Andrea Leadsom, wrote: “I fully support natural defence initiatives such as planting trees, which can slow the flow of water.”
Guy Shrubsole, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said last winter’s floods “were a powerful reminder that we need to work with nature to reduce flood risk – and ministers wholeheartedly agreed”.
“So far it’s been all talk and no action,” he said. “The government has failed to spend a single extra penny on natural flood management.”
“Ministers must replace warm words with hard cash and announce a pot of at least £20m for natural flood defence in this year’s autumn statement. Anything less will be a betrayal of the communities that flooded so terribly last winter.”
A Defra spokesman said: “We’re committed to better protecting the country from flooding and natural flood management plays an important role in our strategy.
“We’re spending a record £2.5bn on flood defences to better protect 300,000 more homes by 2021 and many of these projects are already using natural flood management measures.”
The Environment Agency also issued nine flood warnings and 57 less serious flood alerts in the south-west and parts of the north of England.
Alison Baptiste, national flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said teams had been working through the night and were now preparing for further flooding as rain continues over the next couple of days.
“People should remember not to drive through floodwater and be aware travel may be disrupted,” she said. “Environment Agency teams will clear blockages in rivers, continue to issue flood warnings and may operate flood gates and sea defences.”
Landowner refuses zero-cost flood prevention scheme to protect homeowners
What happens when a landowner refuses to allow a flood prevention scheme that will affect a small part of his land and will cost him nothing. Could it happen here – you bet it could.
“A farmer is blockading a city’s £13m plan to save hundreds of homes and businesses from flooding in a landmark legal battle against the government.
The Environment Agency (EA) wants to build a 465-metre long dam on a parcel of Gary Sharp’s scenic Essex farmland to save Chelmsford’s historic urban centre from being deluged. But the 54-year- old is going to extreme lengths to deny the EA acces to his land.
Mr Sharp has bought-up neighbouring land, turned down compensation deals and spent thousands in court in a bid to prevent the dam being built.
The father-of- two is preparing to challenge an obscure piece of waterworks legislation at the Court of Appeal early next year in an attempt to scupper the EA’s plans. Only last month, MPs suggested the EA be stripped of its flood defence responsibilities, in what would be a huge embarrassment for the Government agency. But Mr Sharp is adamant he will continue to impede the flood protection works from being built on his land.
The farmer, who has a 1,500 strong herd of cattle, said: “Why shouldn’t I fight it? “It’s my land at the end of the day and it’s my livestock. Why should they take it away and do whatever they like?” He added: “I don’t think I’m being selfish. The city council owns a huge area, Hylands Park in the south of Chelmsford – why doesn’t the Government put it on their own land?”
The EA says the Chelmsford scheme will save 548 homes and 235 commercial properties, in and around the town’s Old Moulsham shopping quarter, from up to 500m gallons of gushing water if riverbanks burst.
The entire county capital, crowned Britain’s youngest city during the Queen’s 2012 jubilee, is uniquely situated in a sprawling flood plain. But the EA operation rests on building the 5.2m-high wall and sluice gates around 10 miles upstream on Mr Sharp’s land. The EA effectively wants a part of his impressive portfolio of 1,200 acres, nestled within the villages of Margaretting and Stock, to be sacrificed as the city’s flood zone.
When the agency tried to purchase the neighbouring 680-acre Margaretting Hall Farm, priced at £8.25m, after owner John Currie died in January 2014, Mr Sharp bought it instead.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee MPs published a report, on 28 October, claiming the EA was “over-reliant” on traditional defences and suggested more natural measures like planting trees. North West National Farmers Union director David Hall, who spearheaded the response to Cumbria’s devastating floods last year, described it as “the right solution”.
Since the council gave the Chelmsford scheme permission in February 2013, Mr Sharp’s case has reached the High Court at least twice, and is due to reach the Court of Appeal by the end of February.
It is understood the appeal will challenge the EA’s use of Section 165 and Section 177 of the Water Resources Act 1991, which gives government authority over land. Mr Sharp said: “I don’t know exactly know how much I’ve spent but it’s not the amount of money that matters.”
Lifelong Chelmsford resident Jim Rankin, 32, who manages a farm shop less than 100 metres from the River Wid banks, said: “The scheme seems like a waste of money. I’ve lived in Chelmsford my whole life and seen flooding around the Wid, but it’s never got near here so I can’t see it affecting us. It seems like overkill.”
But Chelmsford City Council leader Roy Whitehead, who described the upcoming hearing as a test case, said: “It’s frustrating. “My personal view is Mr Sharp is clearly looking after his own interests and by doing so it could put the residents of many, many, houses in Chelmsford at risk of flooding.
“However, a lot of the residents at risk of flooding are undoubtedly unaware of what’s going on, and often you only know about the risk of flooding until it comes through your front door. “Flooding so far in Chelmsford has been relatively modest, but if you’re told by professionals the city’s going to flood, you listen and take precautions.”
The EA has defended the flood relief scheme as vital to the future of the city. An EA spokesman said: “The Chelmsford flood alleviation scheme will provide vital flood protection to over 900 homes and businesses in the Chelmsford area.
“We have completed work protecting 130 homes and businesses in Chelmer Village (a separate project) and now await the decision of the court of appeal before we can continue to build the scheme.”
“Flood defences ‘skewed towards wealthy families and regions’ “
“The system for allocating taxpayers’ money to flood defence schemes favours protecting wealthy families and those in the south-east, analysis suggests.
The government has said it applies a strict economic formula to deciding where funding should be spent. But an investigation by the Press Association reveals the methods to determine where funding goes focus on the value of assets protected – which could tilt the system towards richer households and those in parts of the country where house prices are higher.
It has prompted calls for a fairer system to prevent the poor being worst hit by flooding events, which are set to increase as the climate changes.
To secure funding, a flood protection scheme has to demonstrate that it delivers more in benefits than it costs to implement and maintain the defences – by calculating the economic losses avoided through protecting property and infrastructure.
The calculation looks at direct damages for homes and other buildings and their contents, clean-up costs, loss of agricultural production and commercial stock as well as indirect damages such as disruption to transport links, water, electricity or access to amenities.
To calculate losses from homes, properties are divided into 28 standard categories based on age, size and type, according to the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management manual, which along with an online handbook advises appraisers on how to assess flood defence schemes.
The costs of a given level of flooding for larger properties – for example a detached Victorian house – are considered to be up to several times greater than for smaller homes such as a 1970s semi.
People who are in a higher social class, such as upper-middle or middle class, in professional or managerial roles, are considered to have better-quality household items than working-class families, so losses from their properties are greater.
Treasury guidelines also require appraisers to “cap” or limit the value of the damages expected so they do not exceed the market value of the property – which is likely to be much higher in London and the south-east than other parts of the country.
This means the losses from properties in the south-east could be calculated as higher than elsewhere, making a flood defence scheme that protects those homes look more attractive.
The flood manual says: “This capping at market values creates regional distribution issues (eg houses within the M25 are significantly more expensive than comparable houses in the north of England) for which there is, at present, no official counter-mechanism.”
The system does have measures to level the playing field, with a greater ratio of funding from the government for schemes that reduce flood risk for homes in deprived areas than in wealthier areas, and ways in the appraisal to look at vulnerable households.
And analysis should be done where necessary or practical to give more weight to poorer households, according to Treasury guidelines.
But MP Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green party, said it seemed the funding formula was not “fit for purpose”.
“Whether you are rich or poor, having your home damaged by flooding is devastating – and a postcode lottery to decide who gets protection simply isn’t fair. It’s simply wrong for richer areas to get more protection than poorer ones.
“The government should urgently review this policy, and repurpose the formula to give equal protections to people’s homes no matter what their value.
“With climate change accelerating and flooding expected to become a more regular occurrence it’s crucial that the government gets this right.”
Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: “This is further evidence of how the poorest are hit hardest by floods – something that will only get worse as climate change worsens flooding.
“All communities at risk of flooding must be adequately defended. As climate change worsens extreme weather, communities have every right to press the government for a fairer approach to protect their families, homes and livelihoods.”
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We know the devastating impact that flooding has on lives and livelihoods.
“We invest in flood defences where the risk is highest, wherever it is across the country and wherever it will benefit the most people and property.
“We give each scheme careful consideration – and this includes additional weighting for regional economic differences.”
East Devon Watch 