YP Letters: Flood of criticism grows over mismanagement of rivers

From: Mrs V Lloyd, Kirkhamgate, Wakefield.
Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams, left,  in Tadcaster with Robert Goodwill, the Prime Minister's flooding envoy.Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams, left,  in Tadcaster with Robert Goodwill, the Prime Minister's flooding envoy.
Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams, left, in Tadcaster with Robert Goodwill, the Prime Minister's flooding envoy.

I QUITE agree that consideration should be given to the dredging of rivers and where buildings are built (The Yorkshire Post, Janury 5). In the 1920s, all the new roads made flooding more predictable as the water had no where to go.

My father used to say in the 1920s that this would cause flooding. He was well trained in country life, working as a girder in one of the water wheels around Sheffield. The men had to drain the dam periodically to clean the silt or the wheel could not work and neither could the men, which meant no money. They also kept all the vegetation down on the river paths and used the old grindstones to get across the river.

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I went a few times when I was around four-years-old and loved to sit in front of their fire in the wheel. The memory still sticks. We can’t change nature, but nature can make us change our attitudes.

From: Paul Muller, Sandal, Wakefield.

THE Roman arches under bridges are held down and in place by the force of gravity. One stone of the arch is placed next to another with mortar.

When the river rises up to the apex of the arches, it lifts the bridge and prises the stones apart and then the flow of water which comes with a force of many tonnes pushes the arches and the bridge over, as seen in Tadcaster.

Before rebuilding the bridge, the rivers must be dredged so that the water can no longer rise to the apex of the arches; best of all would be to build a single span bridge without any obstructive pillars in the river.

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The core of the bridge must be made of a single span of reinforced concrete as on the motorways. The face of the concrete bridge can then be clad with the stones from the 300-year-old bridge. This will make it fit for purpose; because the massive floods will no doubt come again.

From: Bob Swallow, Townhead Avenue, Settle.

I REFER to AW Clarke’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, January 12) regarding a harebrained proposal to build houses on an area known to be subject to flooding near York.

For 20 years, I was a building society manager dealing on a regular basis with both local and national builders. There were some good ones and some awful ones. Little seems to have changed. Here are a few suggestions to improve if not cure the situation.

The 10-year cover on new properties should be extended to cover the possibility of flood within that period. Further, if the builders must build on flood plains, the foundations should be lifted a futher three feet/one metre as some measure of protection. Floors should be solid. Here I speak from some experience as we live in a property benefitting from this type of floor. It is not cold, having an insulating membrane built in.

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All this will cost money which the builder will either pass on, or elect not to build there. In either event, it will be to the benefit to a possible flood victim.

From: Brian Sturdy, Honley, Holmfirth.

FURTHER to Mr J Riley’s letter (The Yorkshire Post, January 11), the problem with many potholes is that the drainage and inspection covers of all the utility companies, are never levelled with the roads as the roads are repaired. In view of the vast profits these companies make, they should be made responsible for the levelling of these covers or charged by the local councils for the work done on their behalf.

From: Coun Tim Mickleburgh (Lab), Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

THE involvement of the Armed Forces in helping to deal with the aftermath of flooding has made me wonder if some could be reallocated into a permanent civil defence unit, able to deal with emergencies such as this. It would be far more use to the UK than involving them in foreign conflicts which aren’t really relevant to us.

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

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LISTEN to the Environment Agency and the Government and you will hear any number of excuses for the flooding that has devastated the North.

They all give the same reasons that they gave in 2014 when the Somerset Levels and Devon were flooded. The fact is that since 2000 and the introduction and passing of the European Water Framework Directive the word dredging has become a dirty word because, according to the EU, it is deemed to damage the environment.

No matter that we have managed our rivers by dredging for centuries and so avoided flooding on the scale as we’ve just seen. Our masters in Brussels demand that “rivers are kept in undisturbed natural conditions” with “good ecological status” which obviously means no dredging without Environment Agency authority – who are signed up to the EU’s green agenda and so rarely give permission for dredging.

While we remain a member of the EU, we must endure a regime that makes its priority not preventing flooding but allowing rivers to “re-connect with their flood plains”. The sooner we are out of this circus, the better. We can then get back to doing what is best for ourselves.

From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.

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GIVEN it is now clear EU rules prevent rivers in Yorkshire from being dredged and maintained in order to reduce the likelihood of flooding, why is this not included in David Cameron’s renegotiation? He’s clearly not asking for enough from Brussels.