Start Packing You West Country Boys & Girls

[Roger Perry]

How strong are your laws on property rights..? no government can brush people aside without fair and adequate compensation. you are talking about 30k acres plus the communities who live there, surely no government would allow that to happen..?

 

[willy]

I agree politicians need to stop being told what to do by these environmental lobbies. Grow a backbone and do what's right. They might be surprised that most voters are not some money wasting charity sponsors. But want responsible government.

 

[JP1]

How strong are your laws on property rights..? no government can brush people aside without fair and adequate compensation. you are talking about 30k acres plus the communities who live there, surely no government would allow that to happen..?

It gets worse. The drainage bill for dredging I'm told would have been £5m over the last 20 years (since it was stopped). There is a £30m wildlife reserve funded in the same area

 

[Ley253]

Now, here is a question Cameron wont want to answer." Prime minister, as the E A refuse to fully fund the dredging of the neglected Somerset rivers themselves, could you not reduce the E A budget by the required amount, and use the savings to ensure that this essential work is carried out as soon as possable?"

 

[topground]

Do the E A themselves make the decisions about how their total budget allocation is spent or is there Ministerial influence?
If the EA make the decision their internal direction, culture and policy needs a major shake up. If it is a Ministerial decision then redirecting funds from one heading to another should not be a problem but the Minister who failed to react to last Summer's flooding on the levels by not making sure dredging was carried out should be named and sacked.

 

[roscoe erf]

i bet the fens is looking on with interest or worry

 

[you've been farmed]

Do the E A themselves make the decisions about how their total budget allocation is spent or is there Ministerial influence?
If the EA make the decision their internal direction, culture and policy needs a major shake up. If it is a Ministerial decision then redirecting funds from one heading to another should not be a problem but the Minister who failed to react to last Summer's flooding on the levels by not making sure dredging was carried out should be named and sacked.

Like that is ever going to happen!!
All politicians seem to be able to continually make shite decisions with complete impunity.
Accountability isn't even in their vocabulary!

 

[Shetlandsheep]

How strong are your laws on property rights..? no government can brush people aside without fair and adequate compensation. you are talking about 30k acres plus the communities who live there, surely no government would allow that to happen..?

It doesn't work like that here, eg the Scottish Govt granted open public access day and night over everyone's private land with zero compensation. Governments do what will please the majority, regardless of the impact on property ownersl which means fluffy animals and militant ramblers, not farmers or land owners (who they prefer to refer to as land managers anyway....)

 

[Roger Perry]

I do not understand, can they do that..? if you own the property they (Gov) put some kind of restriction on it and you have no lawful remedy..?

Could you not as a group sue the government..? known as a class action lawsuit here where everyone joins together in one action.

 

[Longlowdog]

Have all the water voles that were saved from the horrors of centuries of dredging all been rescued or have they all drowned because the rivers were not dredged?

 

[Gulli]

I imagine most of the wildlife that was on the levels is out at sea somewhere now!

 

[caveman]

I do not understand, can they do that..? if you own the property they (Gov) put some kind of restriction on it and you have no lawful remedy..?

Could you not as a group sue the government..? known as a class action lawsuit here where everyone joins together in one action.

We only effectively own the right to occupy the land.( Land tenure).
Goes back to 1066 and all that.
Google Demesne and work on from there.
Probably why so many pi55ed off over the atlantic all those years ago.

 

[Shetlandsheep]

I do not understand, can they do that..? if you own the property they (Gov) put some kind of restriction on it and you have no lawful remedy..?

Could you not as a group sue the government..? known as a class action lawsuit here where everyone joins together in one action.

They would say they aren't restricting landowners use of it, just allowing everyone else to use it too.....

 

[flockeye]

How any wildlife can live and survive in this water now is beyond me it real does stink and it's not sewage it's just stale standing water that doesn't seem to move.

 

[matthew]

Good article from Booker, comparing EA Somerset, with EA Norfolk.
Seems to echo what you've all been saying, re river / dyke maintenance.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...hove-left-Somerset-neighbours-10ft-water.html

 

[Lazy Sod]

How any wildlife can live and survive in this water now is beyond me it real does stink and it's not sewage it's just stale standing water that doesn't seem to move.

On one tv news report, I saw a kestrel sitting on a bush looking pretty miserable. There can't be any mice and voles left.

 

[Badshot]

On one tv news report, I saw a kestrel sitting on a bush looking pretty miserable. There can't be any mice and voles left.

And that'll be blamed on agriculture too.

 

[Victor]

Could we not approach this a different way. "The floods has caused so much devastation to the badger sets in the area" is one idea

 

[jade35]

Could we not approach this a different way. "The floods has caused so much devastation to the badger sets in the area" is one idea

I think that Matthew has pointed out before that it will be the badgers on the edge of the flooded area that have been displaced and if infected will cause problems in adjoining areas but hopefully it will finally filter through about the effect of flooding on wildlife