Indeg
Jones - 8-Feb-2008 - The Flood Risk Management
Wales Committee (FRMW) met last Friday (1st
February) to discuss how best to protect
the people of Wales from the growing flood
risk from climate change.
The Committee supported
the programme to produce ten catchment Flood
Management Plans covering Wales by spring
2009. These will set out the long term strategy
for managing flood risk from the rivers
and the sea. “Climate change will mean higher
sea levels and more frequent flooding to
homes and businesses,” said Geraint Davies,
the Committee’s Chairman. “These plans will
describe the size of the problem and how
in Wales we might deal with these impacts.”
“The Committee considered
the financial position including future
expenditure plans and approved the capital
programme for building flood defences for
2008-2009,” added Geraint Davies. “We also
discussed the need for revenue expenditure
to rise to cover the growing demand for
services such as flood forecasting, flood
warning, mapping the flood risk, emergency
response during floods and maintaining the
flood defences.”
“In Wales we are taking
the lead in adapting to the growing risk
of flooding from climate change,” said Geraint.
The Association of British
Insurers (ABI) were present at the meeting
and talked on the role the insurance industry
has in dealing with flooding. Members of
the Committee and the ABI recognised the
importance of working together with the
Welsh Assembly Government and others to
reduce the impact and consequences of flooding
to people whose properties and belongings
have been affected.
Chris Mills, Director,
Environment Agency Wales, said: “Capital
expenditure to protect people and properties
from flooding in Wales has increased by
nearly three times over the last five years.
We are now spending more on flood defences
than ever before.
“We welcome this increased investment from
the Welsh Assembly Government and through
European funding and other sources. It has
ensured that we are able to put in place
flood schemes that have increased the level
of protection against flooding to an increasing
number of vulnerable communities across
Wales.”
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Environment Agency prosecutes
multiple boat owners without licences
Lucy Harding - 8-Feb-2008
- Six different boat owners have been prosecuted
by the Environment Agency for failing to
secure a valid registration certificate
to keep their boats in the Medway Navigation.
Mr Adam Sale, Mr CA
Haseltine, Mr Andrew Handley, Mr Daniel
Cross, Mr D Martin and Mr Robert Sloss were
fined a combined total of £570 plus
£525 costs at Maidstone Magistrates
Court on Thursday 7 February 2008.
The Environment Agency
has a responsibility for 31 kilometres of
the Medway Navigation, from Allington Lock
to the Leigh Barrier at Tonbridge. Vessels
entering the navigation through Allington
Lock are required to register with the Environment
Agency and display the certificate on the
boat.
Registration is valid
from the 1 April to 31 March of any given
year and a proportion of the revenue generated
by the fee goes to meet the costs of operating
the navigation.
Michelle Waterman, Environment
Agency Navigation Licensing Officer said:
“Prosecution is brought
by the Environment Agency as a last resort.
Reminders are placed on the boat itself,
and a letter sent to the keeper. If no response
is received, usually a final reminder is
sent, so the boat owner is given ample opportunity
to send in the fee. If there is still no
reply then proceedings are commenced.
“These prosecutions
act as a timely warning, as current registration
certificates are due to expire at the end
of next month. All boat owners need to make
sure they sign up for 2008/2009 before the
beginning of April this year if they want
to keep their vessel on the Medway Navigation.”
Call the Environment
Agency on 01732 223222 or visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk
for information about how to register your
boat.
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Environment Agency 'councils'
waterwise future
Tim Abbott - 8-Feb-2008
- 'More homes, less water, greater environmental
impact.'
That was the message
from the Environment Agency to an audience
of East Hertfordshire councillors at a meeting
arranged by Mark Prisk MP.
The MP for Hertford
& Stortford has expressed his concerns
about water supplies and waste water services
in his constituency, especially with the
added pressure of even more homes planned
for the future.
To help Councillors
learn more and ask their own questions on
this issue, Mr Prisk organised a meeting
at Ware Priory, on Thursday 7 February.
The Environment Agency
discussed issues such as low water flow
and climate change alongside the pressures
of building new housing and higher water
abstraction rates. The audience heard that
water customers in the Thames region use
almost 20 per cent more water than average
but despite the recent wet weather the area
receives 50 per cent less rainfall than
the rest of the UK.
The Environment Agency’s
technical experts also explained how with
the number of properties being built in
the region expected to rise significantly
in the next 10 years, the demand for water
will also increase, and with it the need
to treat more waste water.
Without appropriate
measures the region’s water environment
could be under greater threat than it already
is. At present, resources are already restricted
within the MP’s constituency, and more homes
are planned to be built in East Hertfordshire.
Mr Prisk said: “After
meeting with the Environment Agency I felt
that we needed to get local people thinking.
We can’t go on as we are, nor can thousands
more houses be built without a radical change
in either supply or consumption. Making
do, just won’t work.”
The Environment Agency’s
north east area manager Innes Jones added:
“The preservation of our water resources
is a vital issue. The whole of the South
East is under considerable ‘water stress’,
and this area has one of the highest demands
for water in the UK.
“The balancing act of
allowing development whilst protecting the
environment for future generations will
require a range of significant actions,
including investment in new and improved
infrastructure for water supply and treatment.
The Environment Agency is also calling on
water companies to install water meters
in the majority of homes in the South East
by 2015.”
This meeting was organised
after Mr Prisk had met with Environment
Agency area manager Innes Jones to discuss
water resources in September last year by
the banks of the River Lee.
The average household
usage in this region is 177 litres per head,
per day compared with a national average
of 151 litres per head, per day.
