FLOODS appear four times in your issue of January 14.
Adrian Kibbler on the front page reports that Andy Boddington worries that sandbags are no longer free of charge in Ludlow and have to be collected from Craven Arms. Surely if you live in a home that has a history flooding you should make your own arrangements to protect your home. There are many removable barriers available more effective than sand bags.
Raymond Knight lays the blame for floods on EU regulations and the Environment Agency for following these. It is of course nonsense to suggest that dredging has been banned by the EU and an even bigger nonsense to state that dredging will prevent flooding. It can reduce small-scale flooding but in the case of the major floods that have recently been experienced, slightly increasing the dimensions of a river course has no effect on flood levels which are governed by the huge volumes of the flood plains. In addition every big flood brings back enough debris silt, sand and gravel with it to replace the dredged material.
If Mr Knight is interested in reducing water levels during extreme rainfall events he should seek to pursue some of the ideas contained in David Howards letter to reduce flood volumes by planting more trees in catchment areas and reducing drainage of naturally boggy land as well as reducing the causes of climate change.
In her column Harriett Baldwin pays tribute to all the services including the Environment Agency for their dedication in working round the clock to keep us safe and cared for. She also suggests that the flood defence formula could be reviewed to possibly justify more expenditure on flood controlling measures. Property owners are advised to look at individual protection measures for which apparently grants may be available.
All this would suggest that life is more complicated than Mr Knight would like it to be. Although there are relatively simple things that we can all do, for large scale problems, what we did last century is unlikely to be the best solution. Our understanding of why things happen, what causes them and our tools to assess how to prevent them get better every year giving experts the ability to provide solutions. Our politicians then set the rules for what can be afforded.
ANSON CROUCH
Coseley House
Munslow