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EA WILLING TO INCREASE FLOODING RISK IN BERKSHIRE THAMES TO SAVE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE - WHY?
Elvira Viano made this Freedom of Information request to Environment Agency
The request was partially successful.
From: Elvira Viano
13 October 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
I reply to a letter from Doug Hill [Team Leader, Asset Systems
Management, Thames Wey and Loddon] under FOI dated 8/10/09 to a
reply dated 8/9/09.
Many riverside residents have little confidence in the many complex
surveys you sent Mr Hill remembering that your own organisation [as
reported in New Civil Engineer] actually successfully sued the
company who drew up for plans for the Jubilee River Flood
Alleviation Scheme designed to save Maidenhead. A project which all
communities upstream and downstream of Maidenhead unite in citing
as a major cause of severe flooding in their communities in the
first year it became operational.
These reports blind us with science whereas we riverside residents
live alongside the river and are well placed to observe changes
often over many decades.
There does seem though to be a glaring problem with your deposition
survey. A huge area of the river below Marlow Weir is shown as
white which is probably because it is shallower. This is something
I clearly demonstrated to you in my letter of September 8th which
cited the fact that the sewerage barge could no longer empty
cesspits on Lock Island because of the sandbars on this reach.
These continue right down the Berkshire side of the river and have
formed because you no longer dredge, as Thames Conservancy did
regularly since 1947.
I can send you this map with the white areas coloured pink if it
helps you since this clearly illustrates that if the rest of the
river has been scoured then this may be more than offset by the
shallows in the Marlow Weir reach and on down the river towards
Cookham. From the map you sent it would seem that you apparently
omitted to survey these shallows.
THE NUB OF THE QUESTION -
We are frankly amazed that in your letter you advise that 'there
are 287 houses in Marlow which you plan to provide flood protection
too up to the 1 in a 100 year flood event'. Yet in the same letter
you advise that, on the facing bank in Berkshire you estimate there
are '126 properties in Temple and Bisham which are at risk of
flooding during a 1 in 100 year flood event'.
You a/ seem to have no plan to protect them and b/ seem prepared to
spend millions of £'s on a scheme which many consider will increase
the risk to these communities on the facing bank.
And you do not address the point I made which is that it is not
just the number of houses it is the number of people which should
be taken into the equation too.
For the rescue organisations this is a vital consideration. On the
Berkshire side you make no mention of the fact that you have
probably counted as 'one property' The Compleat Angler Hotel, The
National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey and The Longridge Sports
Centre which you have currently supported in its recent planning
application to enlarge.
Nor do you make any reference to the antiquated sewers which spill
their contents when ground water rises on the Berkshire side across
roads, fields, gardens and back into the river.
A meeting in London today hosted by the Academy of Engineering and
supported by the Environment Agency in Wales will review the
increasing likelihood of strong intense storms which pour vast
quantities of water into the rivers exceptionally quickly. They
state that in the UK catchment drains cannot cope and it is
recommended that these drainage systems need to be significantly
deeper.
Many rivers, including the Thames, are indeed vast land drains the
conference will be told and delegates will hear that they too need
to be significantly deeper.
You have allowed the Thames to silt up after nearly 60 years of
regular dredging and maintenance.
Why?
In summary the questions asked on September 9th were ;
Who authorised that the dredging/maintenance programme started in
1947 following the re-profiling of the River Thames be abandoned?
On what grounds?
Please send the report detailing the impact on the river and
surrounding areas now that it is more than a decade since any
dredging was done and provide evidence which shows that this work
is no longer necessary
Please confirm on what evidence you make the statement that 'in our
judgement sandbars do not increase the risk of flooding'
Please send risk assessment and impact data for Marlow/Temple and
Bisham which shows conclusively that any work done of the Marlow,
Bucks side of the river will not in any way increase the risk of
flooding on the opposite Berkshire bank
So why is the Environment Agency prepared to potentially sacrifice
properties in Temple and Bisham, which contain many ancient houses,
for the sake of a new estate of houses built in river meadows in
the 1970's against all local advice? Why is it prepared to spend
millions of £'s of tax payers money on unproven flood alleviation
schemes before undertaking prudent actions like regular maintenance
on ditches and the silted river bed itself so that the Thames can
do the job it is there for, be an effective land drain from source
to sea?
Yours faithfully,
Elvira Viano
From: Enquiries, Unit
Environment Agency
13 October 2009
Thank you for contacting the Environment Agency. Please see below
regarding our response times and environmental incident reporting
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But my e-mail refers to an Environmental Incident, won't it get answered
sooner?
If you wish to report an incident i.e. pollution, fish in distress,
dumping of hazardous waste, etc please do not use this e-mail service
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From: Edwards, Marie
Environment Agency
16 October 2009
Please see attached our acknowledgement of your request.
Marie Edwards
External Relations Officer
Tel 01276 454427
E-mail [1][email address]
P Did you know - spray taps can reduce water use by 60 - 70% compared with
conventional taps
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From: Elvira Viano
21 October 2009
Dear Edwards, Marie,
I look forward to a reply shortly. In the meantime is it possible
to see the full speech made by Lord Smith at the recent meeting
organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and to have the EA
view on the recommendations made - ie that if Britain is to expect
frequent Monsoon style storms, which Lord Smith makes reference
too, that we should be building deep open drainage ditches beside
roads.
Does not the EA think that re-profiling and maintaining the depth
of their existing land drains [ie the River Thames] is not
therefore vital as a first action?
Yours sincerely, Elvira Viano
From: Edwards, Marie
Environment Agency
21 October 2009
I will be out of the Office until Monday 26 October 2009 . Any urgent
enquiry should be sent to [email address]
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litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.
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terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
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From: Elvira Viano
11 November 2009
Dear Edwards, Marie,
You have not answered my questions within the legal timelines. Can
you give a reason for this? Also at a public meeting on October
21st Mr Hill of the EA was asked the cost of re profiling the
Cookham Reach on the River Thames to get rid of the many shallows
and sandbars and allow the river to flow fast and deep as it used
to. He did not have these figures and advised he would have them in
the next few days. No one has seen them. In view of the fact that
the failed Jubilee River caused widespread flooding for the first
time in 50 years above and below it we are amazed to see that the
EA is considering spending £300m of tax payers money on building
three new channels before undertaking the most basic of options -
getting rid of the shoals and sandbars which have been allowed to
form thus rendering the Thames unable to carry water away fast and
deep as it used to after it was re profiled in 1947 backed up by an
ongoing dredging programme.
Yours sincerely,
Elvira Viano
From: Thames SE, Customer Contact
Environment Agency
11 November 2009
Dear Elvira
A response will be sent to you today. The information we are sending should cover your original request of 13th October & the subsequent request made on 21st October and today.
Yours Sincerely
External Relations
Thames SE Area
show quoted sections
From: Biggs, Irene
Environment Agency
12 November 2009
Dear Elvira Viano,
Thios response has been returned as the size of the attachments are too
large for our system to send, it is therefore now being sent in separate
e-mails, our server unfortunately has a limit on the amount of data it can
send.
This is the first e-mail
Dear Elvira Viano,
Re: EA willing to increase Flooding Risk in Berkshire Thames to Save
Buckinghamshire -Why
Please find attached the response to your enquiry relating to the above,
also attached is the following:
Survey Comparison PDF
Survey Marlow Apr 2008 PDF
Survey Marlow Mar 2003 PDF
Survey Marlow Nov 1999 PDF
Lord Smith speech made to Insurance Institute of London
The Royal Academy of Engineers [1]issued a report referring to the
likelihood of increased occurrences of tropical monsoon type weather and
(perhaps unsurprisingly) the need to undertake more engineering to
mitigate the effects.
link to this report:
[2]http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/shownews.ht...
This publication coincided with our Chairman [3]delivering a speech to
Insurance Institute of London which also referred to the impacts of
climate change. Attached as PDF file.
The two were pulled together in a single [4]Telegraph article which
received much attention.
link to this article:
[5]http://www.telegraph-co.uk/earth/earthne...
Yours sincerely.
External Relations Department
Swift House Frimley Business Park Frimley GU16 7SQ
Tel: 08456 500 500
e-mail: [6][email address]
Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
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still check any attachment before opening it.
We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.
If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[7]www.environment-agency.gov.uk
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http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/shownews.ht...
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6. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
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From: Biggs, Irene
Environment Agency
12 November 2009
Dear Elvira Viano,
This is the second
Re: EA willing to increase Flooding Risk in Berkshire Thames to Save
Buckinghamshire -Why
Please find attached the response to your enquiry relating to the above,
also attached is the following:
Survey Comparison PDF
Survey Marlow Apr 2008 PDF
Survey Marlow Mar 2003 PDF
Survey Marlow Nov 1999 PDF
Lord Smith speech made to Insurance Institute of London
The Royal Academy of Engineers [1]issued a report referring to the
likelihood of increased occurrences of tropical monsoon type weather and
(perhaps unsurprisingly) the need to undertake more engineering to
mitigate the effects.
link to this report:
[2]http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/shownews.ht...
This publication coincided with our Chairman [3]delivering a speech to
Insurance Institute of London which also referred to the impacts of
climate change. Attached as PDF file.
The two were pulled together in a single [4]Telegraph article which
received much attention.
link to this article:
[5]http://www.telegraph-co.uk/earth/earthne...
Yours sincerely.
External Relations Department
Swift House Frimley Business Park Frimley GU16 7SQ
Tel: 08456 500 500
e-mail: [6][email address]
Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.
We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it.
We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.
If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[7]www.environment-agency.gov.uk
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http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/shownews.ht...
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http://intranet.ea.gov/static/documents/...
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6. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
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From: Elvira Viano
12 November 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Environment Agency's
handling of my FOI request 'EA WILLING TO INCREASE FLOODING RISK IN
BERKSHIRE THAMES TO SAVE BUCKINGHAMSHIR' You have simply forwarded
me many generalised documents. People living on the Cookham Reach
of the River Thames want specific answers to the specific questions
which were raised in the letter. You do not answer these questions
and answers are urgently required particularly since you have
lodged a planning application with Wycombe District Council and
just seem to be playing for time.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ea...
Yours faithfully,
Elvira Viano
From: Enquiries, Unit
Environment Agency
12 November 2009
Thank you for contacting the Environment Agency. Please see below
regarding our response times and environmental incident reporting
You can expect to receive a reply from us within 10 working days for any
general enquiry. Please note that bank holiday days and weekends are not
classed as a working day.
If your enquiry refers to a Simple Exemptions application you can expect
to receive a response within 25 working days.
The Customer Charter (response days) for all enquiries start from the next
working day of you receiving this auto reply from us. For example an
e-mail's customer charter sent to us on a Friday will start on the
following Monday providing this isn't a bank holiday.
For further information on our Customer Charter please see
[1]http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/abo...
But my e-mail refers to an Environmental Incident, won't it get answered
sooner?
If you wish to report an incident i.e. pollution, fish in distress,
dumping of hazardous waste, etc please do not use this e-mail service
instead please call our free-phone 24 hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70
60. For more details about incident reporting please see:
[2]http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/con...
Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.
We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it.
We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.
If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[3]www.environment-agency.gov.uk
References
Visible links
1. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/abo...
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2. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/con...
3. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
From: Symonds, Ann
Environment Agency
16 November 2009
Acknowledgement letter Thames Flooding.doc
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Viano 041109 Response.doc
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Dear Ms Viano
Please see attached correspondence.
Regards
Ann Symonds
Planning and Corporate Services Manager
Environment Agency SE Thames
Tel: 01276 454336
Email: [email address]
Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.
We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it.
We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.
If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[1]www.environment-agency.gov.uk
References
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