More work on understanding flooding risk

Building on the day spent with Marc Hedding, who as Chairman of the Wimblington Internal Drainage Board gave me a hands-on insight on drainage issues a fortnight ago, I spent most of the day today with Russell Wright who is the Clerk to no less than five internal drainage boards at the Whittlesey end of the constituency.  Whittlesey Internal Drainage Board alone covers over 100 miles of water courses, which gives you a sense of why I regard this issue as so important to our community.

Russell was fascinating to listen to, with a deep practical knowledge of how we best protect this area from the risk of flooding.  The Government’s obsession with one size fits all means they are trying to merge drainage boards so they have at least £500,000 income, pay for an office staffed 9am to 5.30pm (as if flooding only happens in office hours), a chief executive with a legal or finance qualification, a finance director, and a whole load of other costs like a computerised rating (although no one seems to know what this is!).  By contrast, Russell works part time from home, has no office costs, is on call at any time including week-ends when there is heavy rainfall, and works in tandem with local farmers who volunteer their time for free.

Once again Labour are seeking to add regulation and cost to a system that works well now.  It might be that some of the internal drainage boards should and will merge, but in my view this should be organic and driven from the boards themselves, rather than imposed from Whitehall in a top down process. The admin costs of the smaller internal drainage boards are often around 12% in non election years, lower than the admin costs of some large boards (one board with an
income over £1 million currently runs at over 20% admin due to their office costs).  So the government position that a larger board “is a robust indicator of…..required management and technical capacity” is misplaced.

Not all that the current government has done on this issue is bad.  The Pitt Review recommendation of an asset register strikes me as a positive step forward.  One of the problems I have found in the past, such as with the flooding to homes in Delph ward, is the lack of up to date records as to who is responsible for what between Anglia Water, Fenland District Council, County Council Highways, the Environment Agency, and the Middle Level Commission.  However I am concerned whether the County Council will have the resources to lead effectively given the resource pressures from the Government’s underfunding, and the demands in other areas like child protection.  Will the Environment Agency release funding to County Councils?

It also is surprising that planning permission continues to be given so that building work starts before adequate drainage is agreed.  Drainage boards are not consultees on planning, even if they do comment.  My fear is that with a building then complete, the pressure is increased for a fudge on drainage, rather than getting the right solution before building work begins. For example planning went ahead on Gaul Road in March for 135 houses even though this was opposed by the Middle Level Commission.

Increased development is clearly putting extra pressure on the system, and so too are environmental concerns.  There is the reluctance to dredge rivers in certain areas because of environmental concerns, such as to protect voles.  The drainage boards themselves have issues to address, such as succession planning and cover for key staff.

Notwithstanding these challenges, none of the areas of the UK with internal drainage boards flooded last year, in contrast to many other parts of the country.  The Middle Level is unique, as the only part of the country which pumps water twice.  Internal Drainage Boards play a key role in protecting the Fen landscape.  They are staffed by people with practical experience on the ground not stuck behind desks.  Labour should leave them alone.

This entry was posted on 12/03/2010 at 04:00 pm and is filed under Drainage Board, Wimblington, Labour Failure, Whittlesey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.