From the Daily Star
"Climate change boffin Lord Krebs says garden shows contribute to floods because they tell people to pave or deck lawns.
As a result water drains into rivers and leads to flooding. But housewives’ favourite Titchmarsh hit back at the claims yesterday, branding them “laughable and totally unjust”.
He said: “TV gardeners do not advocate paving over entire gardens, simply a small area in which to sit.”
He said he has always encouraged planting trees and shrubs which soak up water and prevent flooding.
Alan, 64, laid the blame squarely at the Government’s door, saying they should take better care of the rivers.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/365408/Don-t-blame-gardeners-like-me-for-floods-says-green-fingered-telly-host-Alan-Titchmarsh
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Replies
Slightly off the theme of this post, but related - I do think SuDS is a good thing and good housekeeping but in my opinion, no amount of permeable paving could have prevented the flooding we are seeing now.
I agree Phil
I think Lord Kreb was referring to the Paving over of entire front gardens for a driveway which I hate too. Horrible site when you go up the road and there's nothing but driveways to be seen for hundreds of yards.I know people like to park their cars 1 meter in front of their lounge window but I wish people would be more inventive with the space.
The paving /tarmac and loss of soil may lead to a bit more surface water but nothing to do with the floods we are seeing now. I blame what we are getting now on climate change.
Also if the planning authorities allow building on flood plains and you buy a house on a flood plain guess what? the clue is in the name "Flood plain" your house will Flood!! so dont blame anyone else but yourself for the purchase. If you want to live in a house near a river then every now and then expect to be flooded....dont blame the agenicies for not dredging It.
I agree no amount of any one system would help the recent flooding including dredging, water harvest storage areas, permiable paving, but if all the systems were incorporated into a national plan..no building on flood plains...all new house builds by law incorporated one of the above we could all say we have done as much as we can....then rest Is in the lap of the gods, then maybe nobody would be looking for scape goats as they are now because we have done the best we can.
I will never flood because i chose not to buy a house on a flood plain i also chose not to live near a river but i did choose to live on a hill (at thetop) which helps as i have never known water to run up a hill !!
I feel for the flooded people of the UK it has to be the worst thing ever and my heart goes out to them but until we get a grip with the core issues it will still keep happening.
I have never been flooded and I have alot of sympathy for anyone that has. What has annoyed me is the fact that the governments response was almost non exsistent until it got uncomfortably closer to london. Now money is no object. I could suggest a couple of areas to find money for flood defences 1) tax the fat arse bankers 2) scrap hs2 and use the money allocated to that fat cat train service
building regs state the top water has to run into a soak away,but at the moment the water table is out of the ground. how dos the thames b
barrier work is river water pumped out when its shut or is the river left to back up?
Does anyone else fell the same, how the 'outside world' jumps on the weather bandwagon when we have these unusual spells, but apart from those directly effected, it will soon all be forgotten?
We deal with the weather day in day out, mostly it's our friend, occasionally it's our enemy, but WE think about it EVERY day and probably carry around a 5 day forecast in our heads all the time.
"What has annoyed me is the fact that the governments response was almost non exsistent until it got uncomfortably closer to london."
To be honest Stuart I don't think that anything could have been done to have prevented these floods. Short of putting up a 10" bank around the whole of the Somerset levels - which would have meant shutting off both entry and exit of rivers, and you can't do that - nothing would have stopped the water rising.
Dredging would have helped alleviated some of the early build-up, I am sure but this really only buys a little bit of time.
Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance said:
Addressing flooding and dredging on the Somerset Levels
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/151697.aspx
I personally think dredging would not have stopped the floods happening completely but dredging is, nevertheless, good housekeeping and should be carried out on a regular basis: It's basic land management.
River silt is classified as controlled waste
It seems ludicrous to me that river silt is classified as controlled waste.
I know that silt can be impermeable when saturated so returning it to the Somerset levels wouldn't work but, in my opinion, river silt could be used to ameliorate farmland away from the Somerset levels or indeed a processing plant could be set up locally and the resulting silt used in horticulture.
Once again we are ignoring good management principles.
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