Environment Agency’s flooding failures now exposed – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Martin Voase, Brandesburton, Driffield.

THE recent article by Paul Andrews on flooding says it all. How right he is to say that we have seen 35 or more years of little or no maintenance on main rivers which are the responsibility of the Environment Agency.

I have lived all of my 70 years next to the banks of the River Hull and have seen the river deteriorate. The main thing that I notice now compared to 50 years ago is the short time it takes for the water level to rise nearly to the top of the banks and for this high level to remain for long periods, many months sometimes.

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Only 20mm of rainfall is needed to raise the water to this high level which puts pressure on the saturated banks and can lead to bank failure.

Yorkshire has been repeatedly hit by major floods in recent years.Yorkshire has been repeatedly hit by major floods in recent years.
Yorkshire has been repeatedly hit by major floods in recent years.

There was a very near miss in December 2019 when a section of bank was failing and threatening to flood Yorkshire Water’s Tophill Low water treatment works, several villages and much farmland.

The bank had to be reinforced with steel piles using a floating pontoon as access to the site by land machines was impossible. This was emergency work on a section of bank that was known to be in a very poor state, meaning that the cost would be very high.

We have just seen the third consultants’ report regarding the River Hull catchment and still no actual work or even a plan of action to do anything has been drawn up. We are now paying for the years of inactivity by the Environment Agency caused by governments, of all colours, not allocating proper funding for maintenance of water courses.

From: Marilyn Shaw, Thornhill.

Environment Secretary George Eustice in York in February 2020.Environment Secretary George Eustice in York in February 2020.
Environment Secretary George Eustice in York in February 2020.
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ONE can only feel deep sympathy for those affected by the flooding which occurs all too frequently.

However, I think planning permission granted by councils is negligent in that due consideration has not been given to the areas granted for housing and building.

We know there is great pressure to provide affordable housing, but it is not affordable to those who buy in areas subject to flooding. The climate is changing and we are warned to expect extreme weather more frequently.

Why then do councils approve building in areas subject to flooding and flood plains?

From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.

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ANOTHER consulation on flood insurance (The Yorkshire Post, February 1). How about some action George Eustice – or is that too much to ask of you and Defra?

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