Flooding - do we really care?

[boatone]

From todays Grauniad:
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An exaltation of skylarks greets me as I pedal along the Oxfordshire lanes around Weston-on-the-Green. This village, with its thatched cottages, ancient manor house hotel and 18th-century church, all surrounded by a beautiful agricultural floodplain, is just seven miles north of Oxford. It's a green and pleasant stretch of rural England that any self-respecting environmentalist might fall for.
But if the government has its way and Weston Otmoor, as it has designated the area, becomes the site of one of 10 "ecotowns",

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Also from the BBC website Flooding Plan needs improvement .
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She added that he is likely to say councils, housing associations and insurers should make sure that these houses are "properly flood-proofed" before people return to them.

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As I understand it, the whole point of a floodplain is that it WILL flood when the river gets too high, thus relieving the pressure and protecting infrastructure further downstream so:
1. Haven't we learnt enough to realise that building on a floodplain is insane and:
2. How the hell can you "properly flood-proof" houses that have been built on the flood plain? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[DogsBody]

1, Obviously not as houses are still being built on floodplains AND people buy them.

2, Build it on stilts or some other measure to raise the house six feet off the ground. Of course that doesn't help with how to get to the house if the road its on floods and not much use if the flood reaches seven foot either but its a start.

Or even better build the houses so they float i.e. build them on a barge!

 

[boatone]

The " properly flood-proofed" comment refers to houses that were flooded last year so we're talking retro-protect here. The mind boggles as to how those houses can be effectively flood-proofed - what do they do, build a bloody great flood barrier round them like the dykes in Holland, or the Levees in Mississippi?

Also, if a ton of money is going to be spent to protect householders from flooding, how about a bit of evenhandedness that might recognise that river users have an interest as well?

 

[chanelyacht]

It's quite easy to flood proof a house for about 2 feet depth - as I know from last year. It's when the water gets above that level, or hangs around for more than a couple of days, that things get interesting. Depends what they're built of as well - ours is 400 year old stone and keeps anything out, modern stuff would last about 10 minutes.

 

[TrueBlue]

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Or even better build the houses so they float i.e. build them on a barge!

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No that's no good - You'll upset a whole lot of forum members, including Byron...

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Joking apart, here is already a growing market for widebeam floating accommodation - and they're quite luxurious - juts go to T&K marina and you'll be amazed.

 

[boatone]

Sir Michael said it was "tempting" to call for a blanket ban on any more building in flood-prone areas, but that was not "realistic", given the huge demand for housing and lack of alternative land in some parts of the country.

But he said: "Construction in flood-risk areas should be the absolute exception. And I think it is very important that people purchasing houses are aware of the risks they are taking".