The bad floods in some parts of the country are a reminder of the dangers of building on flood plains and low lying land. One of the best arguments for a lower rate of new building in Wokingham in the next plan period is the need to protect the remaining floodplain in our area. Those of you responding to the Council Consultation document on the local plan might like to include this crucial point. Putting in better management of the water around development to dump it more quickly into the rivers is not the answer as the rivers are already full when it rains a lot.
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February 21, 2020
The Somerset levels don’t flood because proper water management has been put in place thanks to Owen Patterson, apparently voles are more important than people when it comes to river management, the voles have now drowned , apparently we had far more rainfall a long time ago with no flooding, the environment agency following the diktat from the EU to the letter with regard to not dredging, faceless civil servants who will never be held to account and never be sacked
And whoever is behind the latest move to ban the sale of coal when Germany is building a huge coal fired power station, well the mind boggles, whoever’s behind all the eco nonsense should be shot, as I’ve mentioned many times before, Co2 is an essential gas for plant growth
February 21, 2020
Sir, as a resident of Grazeley, I find your observations helpful as I gather my thoughts on how best to voice my concerns about the proposed massive development. However I am no expert on planning, yet I observe very clearly the following:-
The M4 at junction 11 is highly congested at peak times. The 3700 houses being proposed in the first phrase are just going to add to this. Yet no proposed railway station until later.
Grazeley and the surrounding area are currently very saturated with excess ground water. with side roads flooded and not passable. This is not unusual in the winter months. So would this proposed development be at risk of flooding?
Safety of residents if there was an emergency at the AWE? Large number of householders have to move to an area of safety very quickly.
Also struggling to understand why WBC asked residents about housing numbers, and yet given our response(too many!!) appear to have ignored this and are instead pushing the (Grot)!!!! Grazeley Gardens as a way of safe guarding other rural area’s.
As my neighbour commented, we do not wish development on anyone. There has already been what is considered overdevelopment in the Shinefield parish and elsewhere in wokingham . And yet there is currently a feeling that the powers that be, have already decided its a done deal, without listening here.
I have always thought that at some point , we would get some development, and tried to be positive. But 15000? Its truly too much. Why is the wokingham area being so overdeveloped and not West Berks and Oxfordshire?
Reply These are all relevant points for the Council’s Consultation.
February 24, 2020
Judging from previous correspondence with the Council, the Environmental Agency are the people who seem to have responsibility for flood control, and they do not seem to think there is any real problem.
Parts of the River Loddon are obstructed under the A329M bridge, they have been told numerous times, but nothing ever happens.
The excuse given, if we unblock the obstruction there, then flooding will occur further downstream from the Winnersh roundabout !
Clearing ditches and dredging are now seen to be a problem because the spoil removed is now regarded as toxic waste as I understand it.
Years and years of neglect and inaction is one of the causes of Flooding.
Excessive building, and building on flood plains is another, as the water runs off faster from roofs, roads, hardstandings, etc, rather than being absorbed into the ground.
February 24, 2020
Perhaps we should take on board lessons from the way Holland deal with water management.
Seems from an Article in the Sunday times they dredge rivers and use the spoil to build up the banks.
Nothing new about this, we used to do the same decades ago until we lowered the priority of homes and people.