John McDonnell
Letter to the Prime Minister regarding flooding proposals
The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown MP
The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA
24th July 2007
Further to our conversation yesterday, I thought you might be interested to see the enclosed list of suggestions for future flood responses and defence provision.
I do hope the Government will give serious consideration to the need for such measures, revealed so starkly by recent events.
Yours ever,
1) Better maintenance of the drains and flood defences in the ownership of the Environment Agency and higher standards of private sector flood defence maintenance.
2) Plans should be drawn up for culverts, ditches and alternative water courses to take surplus surface and river water away from buildings.
3) Riverbanks should be built up, permanently or temporarily, in built up areas so that water is deposited over farmland and fields instead of in built up areas. This should be combined with compensation for crops destroyed, which would be cheaper than repairing damaged buildings.
4) Water should be diverted onto fields from swollen rivers above towns and villages where otherwise it would burst the bank and cause flooding.
5) Planning approval of new building developments (whether approved at national or local level) should take full account of the flood defence impact and provision, assessed by the Environment Agency. Building plans on flood plains should be accompanied by proposals for water holding areas, better sewerage systems and surface water handling.
6) Comprehensive contingency plans in each local authority should make provision for people driven from their homes by water and sewerage flooding, as well as to make available temporary school facilities. Adequate sandbag stocks need to be ensured – if necessary, householders most at risk might stockpile their own.
7) Transport network points most vulnerable to flooding should be identified, and responses targeted at these before the flooding starts. They should be supplied with pumps where water is most likely to collect. Weak points on river banks near roads should be bolstered as a priority, either by sandbags or other containment.
8) As an immediate response to weather warnings all ditches and drains should be cleared to ensure their effective use.
