Matt 160 Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 It's been quite moving over the last few days seeing folks suffering on the Somerset Levels. I've gone from being moved to see folks pulling together while animals and families are evacuated, to sheer anger seeing Lord 'Toady' Smith refusing to apologise for not keeping the promises he made to dredge the rivers when this happened last year. Are there any members from that area who have been flooded or involved? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WILF 44,479 Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 Bit of a side note but why do houses in these type of areas not get built up on stilts like in some regions of the Danube ? Wouldn't be hard to make it part of planning law, they seem to be able to make every f***ing thing else a law easy enough !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt 160 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 Bit of a side note but why do houses in these type of areas not get built up on stilts like in some regions of the Danube ? Wouldn't be hard to make it part of planning law, they seem to be able to make every f*****g thing else a law easy enough !! Saw one on the news before Christmas where the ground floor of the house was converted into an area for the water to run through and another floor was added on top. That was when they had the 'once in a hundred year' flood last year. This time they've been under water for two months, and the water level went up by 3 feet last night. Looking at the weather now it's only going to get worse. It's one thing building houses next to rivers, but some of these places haven't flooded in living memory and have only flooded now because the rivers haven't been dredged for years. The local farmers all pay a levy into a drainage fund which gets taken by the EA and spent on flood protection schemes in towns and cities. You can see why the locals are a bit cheesed off with them. When this happened last year, Smith turned up, stood on a hill looking at thousands of acres of flooded farmland and promised that dredging would start within months. I'd say he was lucky to make it back to his london pad in one piece today.... The local MP called him a 'cowardly git' and said that if he got his hands on him he'd flush his head down the nearest lavatory!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 When this happened last year, Smith turned up, stood on a hill looking at thousands of acres of flooded farmland and promised that dredging would start within months. I'd say he was lucky to make it back to his london pad in one piece today.... The local MP called him a 'cowardly git' and said that if he got his hands on him he'd flush his head down the nearest lavatory!! Seen that MP spitting feathers on the news earlier mate.. Said the environment agency had just spent 21 million building a f***ing bird sanctuary just up the road and nothing on trying to prevent flooding.. That Smith guy wouldn't even apologise to the people affected earlier, despite the newsreader interviewing him tying him up in knots.. He needs to fall on his sword IMO.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt 160 Posted February 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 That Smith guy wouldn't even apologise to the people affected earlier, despite the newsreader interviewing him tying him up in knots.. He needs to fall on his sword IMO.. They asked him straight if he was going to resign and he refused. He still thinks he's done a good job Heartbreaking watching the news tonight. One resident who was evacuated last night got a phone call while she was being interviewed to tell her that her house was now under water. She cheered up a bit later when she was reunited with her horse which she thought had drowned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
esoxluscious 44 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 £21 million on a bird sanctuary!! sickening when people and their living is being flooded! that money could have dredged rivers, planted hedgerows and maybe covered a bounty on grey squirrels/corvids.... back handers for the stakeholders thats all i reckon its about these days? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosun11 537 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Yep, a sad state of affairs down there.... Wilf, once upon a time houses there were built of stone, on at least the first few feet. No plaster, no electrics, no soft furnishings. The folk there kept the levels to level but when the freak storms and floods hit they were flooded with no real damage done. Live upstairs, water subsides, brush out the crap and get on with living..!! Now the folk who live there don't 'manage' the levels, goverment bodies do and when they feck up, like now, those houses with all mod cons and those inside 'em suffer far far worse than their ancestors 100 years ago! It'll be interesting to see if those big media fundraising charity's get as much support over the next year or two if they are still heavily influenced by starving Africa... Or will folk finally realise that charity begins at home...?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawki 1,429 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 its the same in ireland max.... ever country should look after their own, instead of pumping millions into other so called poor countrys where the government is loaded with gold, oil and diamonds, and when things start to look up for some familys they come over and fleece the system, they dont give a fook about you or i, then they call us racist? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gonetoearth 5,144 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 We live on an island we have reclaimed land from the sea , we have drained and ditched, dyked , and built banks to. Farm and graze for centuries ,we mastered it , we set up a cycle of maintainace To preserve grazing and arable land , first there was the water board then national rivers authority was born out of local smaller County councill maintenance gangs , That dredged and pumped. , cut the grass on the river banks harvested the reeds , cleared debre so. Gutts ditches and brooks could free flow in time of flood tidel rivers were. Dammed and outlets formed country wide , the great rivers were managed , then along came , privatisation , then the National river authority was Splt up. And butcherd. , dredges, barges , tugs small craft that maintained them have all been sold off , Engineers and men who knew every inch and slues gate every Inlet outlet have been made redundant , pumping stations closed , while the powers that be tell us the climate is changing and the water table will rise lol they have disbanded the very organisation that was the first line of defence , they have recruited uni grads with minds full of theory but with know local knowledge , are river systems are in the hands of foreign owned water company's. Are flood planes silting up and are rivers like wise the rain that falls on the high ground and runs to the rivers has no were to go , Now the penny has droped and no ones got there finger in the dyke lol , 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jocky 198 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 I used to do some work for the EA sub concrarat .and they keep telling planers not to build on flood plans. but it get over ruled..by planers. and they build on them. so all the water goes down to some were else. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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