Blogs – four

“All politicians know – and often quote – the response from Harold Macmillan when asked what a prime minister most feared: ‘Eventsdear boyevents‘.” The events of the floods and images of the 2007 changed flood management in UK unlike anything since 1953 and indeed gave that ‘rivers and coastal’ mind set a mighty shake up including:

  • The Pitt review
  • As a result The Flood & Water Management Act 2010 legislation
  • Full recognition of surface water flooding
  • Effective SuDS – yet unrealised
  • Property level protection
  • The close collaboration of Met Office and EA staff
  • Much great collaboration on floods between the blue light sectors
  • It also prepared us for the major and significant, almost routine, flooding events that have occurred since then.

Ten years on from the summer floods of 2007    Emma Howard Boyd

Last week, the Met Office published a report saying there is a 1 in 3 chance of a new rainfall record somewhere in England and Wales every winter. This warning comes nearly a decade after Sir Michael Pitt said that flooding was “an ever increasing threat”. Sir Michael said this as he launched his review into 2007’s widespread floods: a devastating event that heralded ten years of significant flooding.

Flood risk management 10 years on – a journey of high and low tech improvements

John Curtin

On a wet morning in summer 2007 I set off to Birmingham to discuss – of all things – drought planning for water companies. Throughout that year I had been busy working on the Environment Agency’s management of water resources. I remember the morning well. As I left home I saw my youngest had abandoned his play bucket by his sandpit once again. But the rain had already started so no time to tidy and I hurried on. Once at the train station the heavens had opened and all the trains had been suspended – the irony of flooding causing me to abandon my drought plans. We would eventually see an unprecedented amount of rainfall between May and June – the wettest period since records began in 1766.

A place for SuDS – Paul Shaffer, CIRIA & susdrain

Of course there is! So we know that SuDS makes sense yet examples of good SuDS delivery, particularly in residential developments remain frustratingly patchy

I like many others have responded to various consultations on plans to help mainstream the delivery of SuDS in England over recent years. My parting shot in my last response to a consultation was that if there wasn’t political leadership from the government by way of robust, comprehensive SuDS standards delivery of SuDS would come down to SuDS champions and we’d get no or low quality SuDS schemes. I’ll leave that with you to decide if that has happened?

The SuDS champions have to go out on a limb, engage and inspire colleagues and stakeholders to persuade them that SuDS is the right thing to do. They tirelessly use their passion and entrepreneurial spirit to get SuDS delivered. These champions tend to be SuDS practitioners and those from local authorities. Susdrain’s case studies have born testament to some SuDS successes of these champions particularly in the public realm, or land that local authorities own and manage.

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