Fishlake

honeyend

Member
Although I have sympathy for the people in Fishlake do people really buy houses without looking at a map and checking contours, rivers etc? They probably check for broadband coverage and proximity of a reasonable school but seem to forget the essentials. Maybe they think that if it was deemed ok to build houses there then it MUST be ok.
Maybe not possible but it would be good to talk to the guys who did all the groundworks before buying new houses.
Its drained land, the Don was straightened to avoid Fishlake,Snaith and Sykehouse flooding built in the 1600's so has not been flooded to any degree in hundreds of years. The whole drainage created the Isle of Axholme, which is good arable land.
 
It does seem that different areas get hit at different times-Glasgow, Boscastle, Carlisle, Cumbria, Aberystwyth, Somerset Levels etc, so its hardly predictable. Dredging may help in a short heavy downfall but prolonged rainfall will always be difficult to manage. The best we can do is rally round and support those affected communities when the worst does happen.
Oh, and stop building on low lying ground and "flood plains" - that is just madness allowing development in high risk areas. Developers and local council planning departments should be wringing their hands right now. And possibly called to account.
 

Gulli

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
It's interesting this. If you check the planning flood map, as done when buying a house, you would see that almost all of fishlake village is not in a flood risk. If you drive around the Isle of Axholme, you will also see why the villages are where they are - they are like little islands.

On the other hand, what flood risk zones is the flooded farm near Lincoln in?

Not saying either is good, but should we be slagging off house owners in a village deemed low flood risk, and slagging off the EA for the fact a farm is flooded given the unprecedented quantities of rain. Sad for all involved I'd say.
EA flood risk maps are an absolute joke, the hoops I had to jump through to get planning on an old barn which has never flooded in living memory and is further up the hill from the river than other houses which have never flooded were ridiculous, all because their map put it in a higher risk zone than building right on the river bank.
Absolute nonsense but they dont care they just want to take the money for doing nothing
 

teslacoils

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
EA flood risk maps are an absolute joke, the hoops I had to jump through to get planning on an old barn which has never flooded in living memory and is further up the hill from the river than other houses which have never flooded were ridiculous, all because their map put it in a higher risk zone than building right on the river bank.
Absolute nonsense but they dont care they just want to take the money for doing nothing

While they may be a joke, the flood check maps, and historic ability to get insurance are the ways most assess residential flood risk. The alternative would be the vendor warranting it, which would lead to a never-ending chain of future liability.

But yes, they do want the money for nothing, but then again that's what I want from my business.
 

jellybean

Member
Location
N.Devon
I wasn't slagging off those affected by the flooding but I am very aware of such risks. My son and his wife bought a house near Winchester which got flooded twice. I don't suppose it occurred to them what the risk was until it happened but once it has and you are then aware of the lie of the land, the farmer whose maize ground allows a fast runoff onto the road and the council drain that has a 9 inch pipe right outside your house but which reduces to a 4 inch pipe 200 yards away right underneath the golf course then you are in possession of the facts.

My own house is at 600 feet above sea level but could still get flooded from runoff if I hadn't dug a protective ditch and diverted any potential problem. Caveat emptor and all that.
 

Gulli

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
While they may be a joke, the flood check maps, and historic ability to get insurance are the ways most assess residential flood risk. The alternative would be the vendor warranting it, which would lead to a never-ending chain of future liability.

But yes, they do want the money for nothing, but then again that's what I want from my business.
Yeah I know, the problem is they map everything from the comfort of their office and refuse to come out and actually look.
But their fees are small change to a developer putting in a housing estate so they can charge what they like I guess
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
Horrid situation for anyone to find themselves in, couldn't imagine having to deal with the aftermath.

I do a lot of driving around Yorkshire and the Humber region on a weekly basis and don't see much in the way of maintenance of roadside ditches or for that matter much ditch cleaning in general.

I remember as a child, ditches being cleaned annually, by councils and farmers, is it a practice that has been forgotten or is it just down to cost, surely it would help if more ditches were cleaned more often?
 
I remember as a child, ditches being cleaned annually, by councils and farmers, is it a practice that has been forgotten or is it just down to cost, surely it would help if more ditches were cleaned more often?

And householders fined and made to reinstate filled in ditches in front of their properties when they "steal" an extra metre of land to park on.
 

SRRC

Member
Location
West Somerset
The Somerset Levels are designed to flood in order to store excess rain water until it can be pumped into the channels that then drain out into the Bristol Channel. Neglect of these channels and pumping equipment caused the extended flooding which was the issue. This neglect was for several reasons, including EU wildlife directives, lack of maintenance, the head of the EA being a conservationist not an engineer etc.
It sounds like it's being repeated around Fishlake.
There is some hope, the political storm that followed the Levels flooding made EA policy change, the water management and infrastructure on the Levels is now pretty good I'm told. Let's hope you get some relief.
As an aside, don't let them tell you it's a lack of funding, that's bullocks, it's how the money is spent that is wrong.
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
And householders fined and made to reinstate filled in ditches in front of their properties when they "steal" an extra metre of land to park on.
Couldn't agree more, it doesn't help when grassed areas are removed and paved over to create additional parking, sadly I don't think there is any one factor that caused last weeks events other than the amount of rain falling onto an already very wet landscape. Tragic for all involved.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
According to the Times today, from 2022 “at risk” properties will be bunged £10k to go towards personal flood mitigation such as waterproof plastering, raising the level of sockets and tiling downstairs rooms plus a reduction in flood insurance premiums.
All this under something called Flood Re..... which is already in operation taking a levy of £10 off every household insurance policy. Something I didn’t know

More info on Flood Re here

 

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