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In the Daily Mail today:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sold-machines-just-200-000.html#ixzz2xj7XmDsE
Environment Agency spent almost £1 million hiring dredging equipment after it sold its own machines for just £200,000
PUBLISHED: 08:17, 2 April 2014 | UPDATED: 09:00, 2 April 2014
The Environment Agency spent almost £1million of taxpayers' money hiring dredging equipment after selling its own machines for just £200,000.
A request made under the Freedom of Information act has revealed that over the past year the quango spent £839,564 renting machines to keep rivers, streams and canals clear.
The equipment was hired a total 141 times in the same 12 months that the agency received £233,000 after selling eight long-reach excavators used to clear waterways at an auction.
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The Environment Agency, which started dredging the River Parrett yesterday, spent almost £1million hiring dredging equipment after selling its own machines for just £200,000
+7
A request made under the Freedom of Information act has revealed that over the past year the quango spent £839,564 renting machines to keep rivers, streams and canals clear
Dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels finally began this week after the area was hit by the worst floods for 250 years.
But campaigners believe that had the dredging process begun earlier the floods which destroyed homes after the heaviest January rainfall on record might have been avoided.
More...
An employee at the Environment Agency has claimed that river dredging had to be put back after the body was unable to hire equipment from its preferred source as the machines were not available.
+7
Dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels finally began this week after the area was hit by the worst floods for 250 years
'As with every decision our directors make there was no backup plan or contingency plan so it was chaos for many months and this was a contributing factor to the recent flooding I am sure,' the staff member wrote in a letter to the Daily Telegraph.
In the past 14 years the Environment Agency has sold five dredgers and 14 dragline excavators - receiving £112,626 for nine of the machines, although the sum paid for the other 10 was unavailable.
One long-reach excavator was sold at auction in December last year for £47,000.
In 2013 11 new long-reach excavators, capable of removing earth and debris from underwater, were purchased to replace the eight sold.
+7
In the past 14 years the Environment Agency has sold five dredgers and 14 dragline excavators - receiving £112,626 for nine of the machines
The Environment Agency had planned to sell three long-reach excavators at an auction near Hereford in February, but the items were withdrawn because parts of the country were still swathed in floodwater at that time.
Instead it was decided that the machines, which were eight years old and due to be replaced, would be re-conditioned and returned to service.
The agency, which currently has 49 long reach excavators, four dredgers and one dragline, said it hired machinery to support its work when necessary as this provided 'better value'.
Diggers began scooping silt from a 200-metre stretch of the River Parrett, near Burrowbridge, as the multi-million scheme got underway yesterday.
Engineers will clear around five miles of the river and the neighbouring River Tone in the programme - which is expected to take several months.
+7
Around 6,500 properties, including these homes in the village of Moorland, were flooded this winter after three months of heavy rainfall
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Members of the armed forces were brought in to help in flooded areas, moving sandbags to protect homes
It is hoped the £5.8million dredging will improve the capacity of the rivers, which are currently operating at just 60 per cent, and reduce flooding in the future.
Around 6,500 properties were flooded this winter after three months of heavy rainfall.
Dr Paul Leinster, Chief Executive at the Environment Agency, said:'We are committed to dredging as part of the joint action plan which includes other measures such as supporting farmers and making some temporary flood risk management measures permanent.
'We will continue to work closely with Defra, Somerset County Council and other partners to reduce the impact of future floods.'
+7
It is hoped the £5.8million dredging will improve the capacity of the rivers, which are currently operating at just 60 per cent, and reduce flooding in the future
The dredging forms part of the ‘Somerset Levels and Moors Flood Action Plan’, commissioned by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, and was made possible by additional Government funding announced earlier this year.
Some of the removed material will be used by the Environment Agency for flood bank repairs and construction to further improve flood resilience of the area.
'It is vital that our flood-hit communities know this activity is taking place to give them some reassurance, but dredging is only part of the solution,' said John Osman, Leader of Somerset County Council Council.
'The Somerset Moors and Levels Flood Action Plan is key to reducing the risk of flooding in the future and we will work hard to win the funding necessary to deliver it.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sold-machines-just-200-000.html#ixzz2xjLTlOx1
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sold-machines-just-200-000.html#ixzz2xj7XmDsE
Environment Agency spent almost £1 million hiring dredging equipment after it sold its own machines for just £200,000
- Environment Agency hired equipment 141 times in 12 months
- Agency sold eight long-reach excavators for £233,000
- Since2000 EA has sold 5 dredgers and 14 dragline excavators
- Dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels finally began this week
- Campaigners believe homes could have been spared by earlier dredging
PUBLISHED: 08:17, 2 April 2014 | UPDATED: 09:00, 2 April 2014
The Environment Agency spent almost £1million of taxpayers' money hiring dredging equipment after selling its own machines for just £200,000.
A request made under the Freedom of Information act has revealed that over the past year the quango spent £839,564 renting machines to keep rivers, streams and canals clear.
The equipment was hired a total 141 times in the same 12 months that the agency received £233,000 after selling eight long-reach excavators used to clear waterways at an auction.
+7
The Environment Agency, which started dredging the River Parrett yesterday, spent almost £1million hiring dredging equipment after selling its own machines for just £200,000
+7
A request made under the Freedom of Information act has revealed that over the past year the quango spent £839,564 renting machines to keep rivers, streams and canals clear
Dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels finally began this week after the area was hit by the worst floods for 250 years.
But campaigners believe that had the dredging process begun earlier the floods which destroyed homes after the heaviest January rainfall on record might have been avoided.
More...
An employee at the Environment Agency has claimed that river dredging had to be put back after the body was unable to hire equipment from its preferred source as the machines were not available.
+7
Dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels finally began this week after the area was hit by the worst floods for 250 years
'As with every decision our directors make there was no backup plan or contingency plan so it was chaos for many months and this was a contributing factor to the recent flooding I am sure,' the staff member wrote in a letter to the Daily Telegraph.
In the past 14 years the Environment Agency has sold five dredgers and 14 dragline excavators - receiving £112,626 for nine of the machines, although the sum paid for the other 10 was unavailable.
One long-reach excavator was sold at auction in December last year for £47,000.
In 2013 11 new long-reach excavators, capable of removing earth and debris from underwater, were purchased to replace the eight sold.
+7
In the past 14 years the Environment Agency has sold five dredgers and 14 dragline excavators - receiving £112,626 for nine of the machines
The Environment Agency had planned to sell three long-reach excavators at an auction near Hereford in February, but the items were withdrawn because parts of the country were still swathed in floodwater at that time.
Instead it was decided that the machines, which were eight years old and due to be replaced, would be re-conditioned and returned to service.
The agency, which currently has 49 long reach excavators, four dredgers and one dragline, said it hired machinery to support its work when necessary as this provided 'better value'.
Diggers began scooping silt from a 200-metre stretch of the River Parrett, near Burrowbridge, as the multi-million scheme got underway yesterday.
Engineers will clear around five miles of the river and the neighbouring River Tone in the programme - which is expected to take several months.
+7
Around 6,500 properties, including these homes in the village of Moorland, were flooded this winter after three months of heavy rainfall
+7
Members of the armed forces were brought in to help in flooded areas, moving sandbags to protect homes
It is hoped the £5.8million dredging will improve the capacity of the rivers, which are currently operating at just 60 per cent, and reduce flooding in the future.
Around 6,500 properties were flooded this winter after three months of heavy rainfall.
Dr Paul Leinster, Chief Executive at the Environment Agency, said:'We are committed to dredging as part of the joint action plan which includes other measures such as supporting farmers and making some temporary flood risk management measures permanent.
'We will continue to work closely with Defra, Somerset County Council and other partners to reduce the impact of future floods.'
+7
It is hoped the £5.8million dredging will improve the capacity of the rivers, which are currently operating at just 60 per cent, and reduce flooding in the future
The dredging forms part of the ‘Somerset Levels and Moors Flood Action Plan’, commissioned by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, and was made possible by additional Government funding announced earlier this year.
Some of the removed material will be used by the Environment Agency for flood bank repairs and construction to further improve flood resilience of the area.
'It is vital that our flood-hit communities know this activity is taking place to give them some reassurance, but dredging is only part of the solution,' said John Osman, Leader of Somerset County Council Council.
'The Somerset Moors and Levels Flood Action Plan is key to reducing the risk of flooding in the future and we will work hard to win the funding necessary to deliver it.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sold-machines-just-200-000.html#ixzz2xjLTlOx1
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