Five steps to flood-free heaven?
photo credit: purpleslog
Now I don’t claim to be any sort of genius Einstein type but I do know that ‘house + raw sewage + 3ft river water = christmas in a caravan’.
And today the government appears to have worked out this little sum for themselves and have finally decided to issue some guidelines for managing flood risks.
Councils must now follow five steps, proposed by housing and planning minister Caroline Flint, before they embark on a new development and must also consult the Environment Agency on planning applications for flood risk areas.
Rocket science
Those five steps are (not rocket science);
· Identifying what the flood risks are including river/sea breaches, inadequate drainage and surface water run off or sewer problems
· Avoiding risk by prioritising non-flood areas first for new development
· Critically assessing whether the need for a new development outweighs flood risk, including following Environment Agency advice
· Controlling flooding using sustainable drainage and good design
· Ensuring all new buildings that have to be in areas that might flood are resilient and safe (as opposed to made out of ice?)
Selfish gits
To be honest, it had always been a bit of a no brainer to me why new homes where developed on flood plains where they will, wait for it….flood, until I moved and was quoted an extortionate amount to insure my flood-plain-located house, which has never seen a drop of water through the front door in its life. Apart from when the cat has been out in the rain. So I can understand why some new home schemes can be developed in a ‘risky’ location without a chance of them ever flooding.
Bob
Having said that, I’ve never been knee deep in water with my aforementioned cat floating past me, so I think today’s guidelines are definitely a good move.
NOTE: Check the picture - if you stand 15 foot away it’s Marilyn Monroe…well I never
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