August 1, 2007
England
England
Islington Council’s response to the second bout of floods that has ravaged the country – to promise more wind turbines – has been denounced as “complete and utter tosh” by an expert.
Only a week after the Gazette revealed that Islington has no flood evacuation plan in place, an even more devastating round of floods left much of Britain under feet of water. But despite towns lying in ruin, councillors STILL refuse to make changes – even though council leader James Kempton ADMITS in a letter that Islington was “at the mercy of the weather.”
Instead of investing in the water barriers and flood evacuation plan to keep residents safe, he wrote that the three things we can do are to invest in renewable energy, stop wasting energy and start using greener vehicles.
But Paul Archer-Simms, a director of the Flood Protection Association, rubbished the council’s view that tackling climate change should be at the heart of our defence from rising waters.
He said: “That is complete and utter tosh – they should not be at the mercy of the weather. Global warming is a ploy to take the eye off the main issue. There are a lot of good systems out there that can do the job of protecting residents and the council’s emergency planning committee should have something in place to cope with a flood.
“No one is safe from flooding and it’s no use saying ‘don’t blame us it’s the weather’.
Councillor Marisha Ray, Islington’s executive member for community safety, said: “We actively prepare for all emergencies including floods – the council’s role is covered in our crisis response plan.
“The river flooding seen in other parts of the country is exceptional but we are keen to learn lessons from their experience. We ensure gulleys and drains are regularly inspected and cleaned to reduce the potential risk of unpredictable flash flooding from storms.
1 August 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/08/01/councils-flood-plan-slammed-as-tosh/