28 August 2008

Defending historic towns

Sir – I am delighted to hear from Ted Cantle, Vice Chairman of the Environment Agency (Letters, August 25), that they are trying to defend our coastline and are making significant funding available over the next three years.

It is a pity, however, they do not seem to have the same interest in defending our historic towns. Chipping Campden, often described as the “Jewel of the Cotswolds”, was the second worst affected town in the Cotswolds last July, with over 120 properties flooded. These were all within a conservation area.

Although flooding from the River Cam has severely affected properties in the town four times in the past 60 years, the Environment Agency is not interested in assisting either the residents or the local authorities.

After a significant amount of pressure, they have conceded that they made a mistake five years ago in not “adopting” the river, but they are refusing to involve themselves in providing expertise and finding solutions to the problems.

Perhaps they feel that some of our towns should be abandoned, as well as our coastline.

Ken Wilkins, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire