Hopes of more flood cash

8:49am Tuesday 4th November 2008

 

Work on protecting the West from further flooding could be accelerated, the new Environment Agency boss has said.

Dr Paul Leinster stated this week that if the Government wants to bring forward hundreds of millions of pounds of spending on vital flood projects, the Agency will be able to cope.

The news will be welcomed in vulnerable areas across the region, especially following last week's torrential storms that brought 6ft-high hailstone drifts and caused flooding.

Dr Leinster warned people will have to expect the unexpected as far as the weather goes, with global warming likely to cause increasing problems, particular during summers.

Chancellor Alistair Darling is considering whether to pour billions into major public works in a bid to fend off the worst of the economic downturn.

The strategy could include major construction projects, such as building new homes, schools and hospitals, using money earmarked for later in the three-year spending round that began in April.

Dr Leinster said: "We cannot plan for unusual events such as those we saw last week because they are unusual – the hail was just amazing, I have never seen hailstones drift like that.

"But we have been seeing, over the past few years, more extreme events, and I think we will just see those more extreme events being more of the norm.

"And we have to plan on the basis it will get stormier. We could well see, especially during the summer, more torrential downpours and therefore we need to take that into account."

Mr Darling announced last autumn he would spend a total of £800 million, over three years up to 2010-11, on flood protection, and some critics have suggested it will not be enough.

Dr Leinster said a study was carried out a few years ago, and the spending was in line with those forecasts.

"What we are now doing is looking at UK projects in reference to the impact of climate change, and we are looking at those moving forward," he revealed.

The Government stresses the amount of money made available for flood risk work is rising, and Dr Leinster said they were preparing for the first time a 25-year investment strategy that should be ready next spring.

Asked if it would be possible to bring forward works because of the credit crunch, if the Government wants to stimulate the economy, Dr Leinster confirmed: "We are prepared to bring works forward."

He said it would be important to have the required skills in place, and to ensure the contractors and consultants were available to deliver the projects: "But we could if needed."

Dr Leinster said the agency is acting on the recommendations in the Pitt Review into last year's floods, including setting up opt-out telephone flood warning schemes for all homes and businesses in risk areas.

They are working with telephone companies, and have piloted schemes, but he said people must also plan ahead.

Almost 50 per cent of people do not do advance preparation such as checking they know how to turn off the water mains, and making up a flood kit.

Dr Leinster attacked developers who propose projects such as housing estates in the flood plain that the agency will inevitably have to challenge, urging them to act responsibly.

He officially began his new job as agency chief executive on Saturday, but has been acting boss since May, after joining a decade ago.

Agency chairman Lord Smith warned earlier this year that stretches of Britain's coastline will have to be abandoned to the sea, especially in East Anglia.

And Lord Smith, the former Labour Cabinet Minister, has also attacked proposals for a controversial Severn Barrage, claiming it would destroy fish stocks and wreck bird habitats.