Crazy paving causes flood woes

Will it take a British New Orleans before we take flooding planning seriously?

By Sian Berry Published 18 June 2007 10:48

It's starting to seem normal. Storms since Friday, accompanied by frighteningly heavy showers across the UK, have caused floods, havoc and tragedy.

Workers trapped in a factory in the West Midlands; the Gardener's Question Time summer garden party almost ruined by rain 'like stair-rods'; the death of a soldier swept away by a swollen river in Yorkshire; schools closed in Sheffield; and thousands of homes ruined in towns and villages from Wales to Norfolk. A century ago, these would have been called 'the big floods' for years to come but the sad fact is we'll probably see the same thing happen again before Christmas.

With good timing, inadequate investment in flood defences was highlighted in a report on Friday by the National Audit Office. They found that our defences – maintained by the Environment Agency – were in peak condition in less than half of high-risk areas, and that protection is often in the wrong place, defending farmland rather than centres of population.

And it isn't just the building of barriers to rising sea levels that is a problem. Other, seemingly harmless, land-use decisions can also have serious consequences in helping make floods part of our daily lives.

The trend to pave over front-gardens in London has led to a dramatic loss of surfaces that absorb water from heavy showers. The permeable land area lost recently is 22 times the size of Hyde Park, according to the London Assembly's Environment Committee's 'Crazy Paving' report in 2005.

Each decision to have a parking space rather than a front lawn has combined to increase the city’s vulnerability to flash-flooding several times. According to the Stern Review last year, “Each individual decision may be rational, but in aggregate this loss of permeable land will leave a legacy for future generations living in London.”

The risk of more city floods can only increase as climate change takes hold properly in the future. A month's worth of rain in 24 hours may never be 'normal' but we can expect it to be a regular occurrence.

In this new climate, plans to build homes on flood plains start to look like madness. With forty percent of homes in the South of England at serious risk of flooding already, building hundreds of thousands of new homes in the Thames Gateway (its name a bit of a giveaway as to its proximity to rising waters) makes no sense at all. The Stern Review recommended limiting construction on flood plains as a way of minimising the cost of climate change, but the government and London planners are intent on ignoring this advice.

Acknowledging its flood-defence failures to date, the Environment Agency is now looking for £150 million in extra funding from this year's comprehensive spending review. I hope they get this and more; a recent study in Scotland found that the psychological impact of losing treasured belongings in floods can take years to get over, lasting long after financial losses have been forgotten.

Despite the certainty of climate change in the future, property damage now is not inevitable. The great front garden tragedy in London could have easily been avoided with a small change in local planning guidelines, and was highlighted by the Greens in London very early on.

Similarly we've opposed the Thames Gateway approach to providing housing for London's growing population, pointing out that a combination of filling empty homes and building on brownfield sites can increase the supply of homes without pushing people into places that will be regularly under water within a decade or two.

The government needs a more coherent and comprehensive attitude to flood planning. If they fail, we could easily end up with large numbers of people unable to get household insurance, unable to sell their houses and condemned to a slow decline into poverty and slum housing conditions.

Arguably, government's 'job number one' is to plan for and provide secure homes for those who elect them. Things like flood risks are simple enough problems to identify, and the consequences of failure potentially so appalling, that the current culture of neglect is inexcusable. Will it take a much bigger tragedy, a British New Orleans, to sort this out?

Special Offer: Get 12 issues of New Statesman magazine for just £12

More from Sian Berry

View the discussion thread.

20 comments

Mon, 2012-09-10 11:43 — siwxwto (not verified)

gxutmhjp

Tue, 2008-12-23 06:15 — mjohn851

Generic Viagra

There are a few people who say that top marked deadens are way more efficacious than the generic ones. Regardless, this does not survive much actuality when it comes to the generic Viagra which are sold at this online chemist's shop which offers at low-cost assays. If you oblige been diagnosed with a sickness and your medication requires you to dissipate a lot for your medicines, you don't secure to sweat bullets with respect to this anymore. You can buy budget-feed generic doses online at and get a brush off when you nurture on buying the for all that deaden. When you cannot put up with the prodigal assay of labeled medicines, your just alternate since it is well-wishing with your impecuniousness for afford masterly doses.
You can buy trashy doses online when you are diagnosed with a bug. You on be superior to buy the done dose, when you fancy to get rid of the symptoms of erectile dysfunction. You are assured that the people at last and testament nurture in formation Dialect anent despite their clients confidential.

Author: Michael John http://www.onlinepharmacy.vg/catalog/-c-32_117.html

Tue, 2010-01-26 09:35 — alexd236 (not verified)

Very nice site! is it yours too

Tue, 2010-01-26 09:35 — alexb242 (not verified)

Very nice site! [url=http://opeyixa.com/qvoxvra/2.html]is it yours too[/url]

Tue, 2010-01-26 09:37 — alexe183 (not verified)

Very nice site! is it yours too http://opeyixa.com/qvoxvra/4.html

Mon, 2007-06-18 22:19 — Weggis

Yes!

Sun, 2010-05-16 07:23 — Hero (not verified)

wife going topless
6 45 stones equals how many pounds
32 caliber colt atf pocket serial numbers
murray engines parts
88670 snowblower
abecedario cursiva mayÃºscula
2009 layered haircutsfor african americans
ar 15 noise suppressor for sale
abuelas cojelonas
army appraisal bullets
amateur porn red tube latin
are white spots on tonsils always strep
38 mud dawg tires
actress patricia southall
real fetish girls
yungest players in mlb
5cc equals 1 teaspoon
ancient spartan tattoos
avatar sex khoa than
ancient greek spartan tattoos

Mon, 2010-04-19 11:24 — Aron (not verified)

aaliyah body laying on ground dead
biography of dorothea orem
ashley bynes naked
calendario niurcamarcos
60 x 30 fiberglass shower stalls walls
autobuses omnibus en dallas
a list of greek gods goddess demigods
bigbootyhomegrown com
nikki minaj plastic surgery
celciustofarenheight conversion chart
barbecue pits made from concrete cement blocks
calendario lynette chico
air force academy application tips
ast and alt scores with cirrhosis
35x13 50 r20 tires
hairstyles med long staight colored
avatar bending break porn
boeing airbus 767 seating chart
astra a100 reviews
1 5th vodka equals

Tue, 2007-06-19 18:10 — soundjat keita1

How do you know we'll have flooding rather than drought?

Tue, 2010-10-26 21:19 — Bill (not verified)

big shitty butts
jennings firearms replacement parts
1 86 kg to pounds
millsfleetfarm beaver dam wi phone number
remington spr220 cowboy
elink at t
kelley video on wwe
big ethiopan booty models
barret 50 calibers for sale
enterprise disney portal sign in
look up firearm serial
keisha pullum knight naked com
hayden panettierre exposed vagina
mossberg 42c rifle for sale
elweb lo guestbook bbs
gd 74 knowledge
aki yusei hentai
africanas chichudas
flavor graffiti alphabet
bedrock bloodline pit bulls

Mon, 2010-06-14 07:31 — Jane (not verified)

9 11 memorial graphics pics
9incomeathome com
arthropod internal anatomy diagram
auto fill yahoo
357 low recoil handloads
150 ounces equals
actual size centimeter ruler
alexander ludwig naked pics
15 mg l conversion
animal testing statistics 2006
actress sucking snaps
bathing suit tops for sie 38dd
accuracy of 22 rifles
atlia martinez
2002 chevy s10 engine diagram wikipedia
308 vs 30 06 ballistics chart
50 ml equals how many ounces
arina dark robbery studio
adultbabypics com
mohawk singer sex tape

Mon, 2010-06-14 07:33 — Hero (not verified)

1 quart vs ounces
96 sunfire cranks but wont start
samoan booty
450 bushmaster ballistics
bass anglers society
ballistic charts cva
acu image pattern jpeg
40 cal revolvers
40 cal carbine
223 trajectories charts
atwww toyotafinancial com
9 11 memorial graphics pics
444 marlin ballistics
amigas desnudos mex
10 milimeter tap drill size
alamat kwsp kuala selangor
30 06 government rifle m1 rifles
187 ml equals fluid oz
2009 taks biology answers
2010 usairways ecertificate

Mon, 2010-06-14 07:33 — Bill (not verified)

adriana corolla desnuda
katie spots nude
are ounces the same as fluid
98 4 3 engine diagram
454 big block index numbers
african braids bob
anatomy of epnis
double elimination bracket generator excel
2010 wg pay chart
22lr belistic chart
106 7 the fan dc radio
358 356080 chain
5 00 subway sandwiches menu
1080 rd 5 45x39 ammo
alpha chants
ana thinspiration tips
norstroms racket in california
amsco us history review key
1985 454 belt diagram
lady watson hentai

Mon, 2010-06-14 07:36 — Jane (not verified)

Thu, 2007-06-21 00:44 — bill

Sain,
You are spot on with this,

Fri, 2010-02-26 15:40 — Aron (not verified)

practice learner s permit test
dave mattews band
cd jvc player
carpet rug upholstery cleaners
streetmaps of london
divas hot wwe
microphones for karaoke
rey mysterio mask
sector 9 longboards
male ejaculation picture
picture of ben franklin
eminem videos like toy soldiers
picture of a labrador
full length porn movies free
conditioning for combat
tagalog english dictionary online
phat azz white girls
what is luteal phase
hindus in india
neopets brain tree answer

Sun, 2010-05-02 16:55 — Jane (not verified)

cna certification number in louisiana
super mujeres musculosas
market basket oxford ma
enfield 1917 smle iii
1950s crime photos
belks promo codes
gatti town
transition to rn role nclex questions
penguin mod storm
deos pornograficos gratis
att software yahoo
examples of couplet
michelle monaghan mude
nikki s car crash
singapore pools big sweep results
nikki manija lil wayne
gulfstream race track results park
honey ham store
kenmore refrigerator model 78542 pictures
butterfly cinquain poems

Sun, 2007-06-24 12:29 — DCarins

Paving over gardens to provide "low maintenance" gardens or parking areas does not have to be impermeable: there are plenty of solutions that allow a hard, low maintenance surface that allows water to drain through it.

However, this is a bit of a red herring. Yes, paved front gardens are increasing, but I'm sure they are only a small part of the cause of increased flooding. Unless people have really big front gardens... I've seen some monster ones in Handsworth Wood completely tarmacced over so massive families can park their ten cars on it.

The government's case for high density housing (supported by the Green Party) means that developments in areas well served by public transport or close to local services etc are to be built to at least 50 dwellings per hectare. Parking standards also demand at least one parking space per dwelling. Which means that the design of the development is led by car parking, and usually ends up in flatted developments with every spare square inch of space covered in tarmac and used for car parking. And that's just for resi developments: what about the proliferation of hypermarkets and their oceans of impermeable car parks? What about out of town office developments near motorway junctions and their oceans of impermeable car parks?

The demand for car parking, the ease of commuting which makes it easier to live further away from work and thereby condemns people to car ownership, our desire to "preserve" the countryside by building at higher densities in urban areas (for flats that few people want to live in) - all are inter-related. It's far too simplistic to condemn individuals for ripping up permeable lawns or gardens, or say "oh it's those planners, letting people ruin their houses". We live in a democracy, and planners have no right to tell us how to live - unless we want to live in a totalitarian state. It would be far easier and far more effective to insist all developments charge for car parking (and remove loopholes where employees can claim those charges back), and to introduce a comprehensive system of road charging making it less attractive to live far from where we work. This would reduce our dependence on cars, the demand for parking, the carbon emissions from the driving, road accidents, community severance, and probably give us more free time so we don't have to worry about looking for "low maintenance gardens"...

Wed, 2010-02-10 06:18 — Jane (not verified)

young hairy
webcam blowjob
hentai social club
fake hilary duff nudes
fake pussy
free xxx porn videos
dragon ball z hentai
hispanic girl
blonde hottie
free sexy cartoons
wife forced to strip
fantasy football team
jessica simpson blowjob
men shave pubic hair
sexy lesbians
ping pong pussy
fitness model photos
teen bdsm
new teen titans
gay cowboys