An example of how poorly the EA is funded is their current number of Fisheries Officers (Bailiffs). I was reading on an angling forum (don't know how true it is) that only 6 officers are employed to care for the entire NW region from the Mersey to the Scottish border.

I do know that they have currently teamed up with the Angling Trust to train volunteer bailiffs such is the lack of manpower.

Anyone with a fishing licence is encouraged to act as quasi-bailiffs, that's always been the case

"Money no object" says Camoron.

Perhaps he should have a word with Christchurch Council who are [url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11007552.Flood_hit_residents_blast_Christchurch_council_and_MP_Chris_Chope_over__total_lack_of_support_/charging residents £7.50 per sandbag[/url

Had to laugh when I saw that this morning, particularly as Cameron had said publicly yesterday that councils should spend whatever it takes as central government will reimburse them.

Its also noted on there that the local MP who won't reply to his constituents, is the same MP who refered to the dining room staff at Westminster as "servants" last year.

As non sequiturs go, that's spectacular.

A slight point: a vast amount of this winter's flooding and damage has been caused by the sea, not just record levels of rain.

And, as we've already discussed, there have been ongoing cuts to the agencies that are tasked with dealing with such problems (and others) and a lack of any long-term planning for years.

Yes, electoral considerations may intervene, but the example of the Netherlands is entirely legitimate as one of showing that, irrespective of the political differences of different governments (there have been prime ministers from three different Dutch parties since 1980 as an example), if the political will is there, long-term planning and long-term action can occur.

Successive governments have apparently had scientists warning of what was going to happen, but have chosen to fiddle while the floods become more frequent.

We need some sort of consensus, across all parties, on what needs to be done, because there's no indication that these are simply "freak events", as Owen Paterson likes to characterise them. One would think that that would be common sense.

They should pump and pipe the water into the council offices. The kit would probably be cheaper than many hundreds of sandbags.

'Cameron' has just Tweeted that no one should be charged for sandbags - central governmemt will pick up the bill.

To which I responded:

Dally ‏@ZymurgyZo ·5 mins
@David_Cameron So, taxpayers who live on hills are having to subsidise those who live next to rivers? Contrary to Tory mean-spirited policy?

Well I am one of those who lives right on top of the highest hill in Leeds, my house will be the twelfth last house to flood in this city come the deluge, unless the water tower right at the top of the street topples over first in which case my house will be the twelfth in the city to be flooded, its swings and roundabouts.

Clubs encourage members to act as bailiffs in terms of making sure that the regulations of the club are followed and that other anglers have the appropriate club membership. All anglers are encouraged to report pollution or suspected poaching to the EA and in the latter case also to the Police. Only EA bailiffs and the Police can demand production of an EA rod licence and to be frank the Police can't be d as they have more important things to deal with. I haven't been asked to produce a rod licence in 35 yrs of angling.

Personally I would make it compulsory to produce a rod licence before you can purchase a day ticket or club membership.

There aren't many votes in promising new infrastructure.

There are votes in promising tax cuts.

It's not only politicians who are short termist, voters can be too.....

This.

Do the media still tell us how much booze and fags are going up before anything else on Budget Day?

[url=http://tompride.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/building-supplier-cashes-in-on-misery-and-raises-prices-of-sandbags-in-flood-hit-area/And Jewsons ratchet up the price of sandbags.[/url

I wonder if Harry and Wills would have been helping out if the floods were up in...say, Lancashire?

I won't take the Jewson lot then...

Price elasticity of supply and demand.

Cost of rental properties in Hull went sky-high when the floods hit back in 07.

I had an empty 4 bedroom rental property during this period and several people who had been flooded enquired about it.

As it was a good property in a nice area, and people were fighting over it, I got offers of £850 a month, compared with my original advertised price of £650 a month.

Very much like the housing market in decent areas of London, where if you have a decent property there will be a bidding war and you will exceed your original asking price.

There's nothing wrong with what Jewson are doing, however, there'll be a reckoning at some point. Back during one of the fuel strikes an enterprising young man decided that petrol could be flogged far more expensively than normal, which is fine as long as a ) you have an endless supply and b ) the strike lasts forever. He didn't, it didn't. He went bust soon after.

Awww, shucks, thanks!.

Indeed, however, the sea constantly batters our coastline, the natural and man made flood defences do a pretty good year round job of keeping us fairly dry, but there's always that chance that the water being pulled just a bit like [ithat[/i will mean it is able to get through just [ithere[/i.
The Netherlands had/has little choice but to invest in flood defences, something like 50% of the country is less than 1m above sea level, which is fine if you're land locked and miles from water, not so much if you're a coastal country.
Have floods become more frequent, or are they now just being noticed because houses now stand where once was uninhabited land. I don't often agree with Monbiot, but trees make a hell of a difference, and looking at the aerial shots of the flooded areas there's a lack of those to soak up water.

They're not freak events in so much that parts of the country has flooded since the year dot, and will continue to do so, what we have now though are pictures of people up to their knees in water dumbfounded that the lovely house they bought in the country with the river at the end of the garden could end up like this.

After all the rainfall and floods, it looks like we now have to be aware of the threat from giant swans

That's just an example of swan upping.

Surely swan-upmanship?

Erm, who's landlocked and miles from water?

There is a small bald man sitting inside that swan, peddling like mad you can just see the top of his head above its folded wing.

Can't you see all them callous asylum seekers leering out of that top flat window hatching a plan to trap then BBQ one of her majestys beautiful swans?

Evil bastads, I tell thee!!!

My pleasure entirely.



However, such extreme events are becoming more regular – and this winter's tidal surges were so severe as to destroy or damage many defences.



The point remains: there has been and remains a political consensus on maintaining that situation – and [uimproving[/u it. We have had successive governments, irrespective of the work of their own scientists, routinely cutting spending or ignoring the need to improve defences, infrastructure etc, on the grounds of political expediency and nothing else.



Yes, I think they have. We've always had occasional freak weather, but what is happening now is that is becoming more regular – and not just more regular, but in more places at one time or over a short period of time.

We have, in effect, lost any sense of the seasons: we have no idea what's coming next or when – and this has increasingly been the case for several years.



I'd treat Monbiot with some care: most deforestation in the UK didn't happen recently, but in Medieval times. And on his argument that, if you look at the map and see the number of places that are called 'forest' but have no trees, he's historically inaccurate, since 'forest' also more generally meant 'hunting area', for instance.

There is an issue with current farming methods and compacted soil, but again, it's far from being the only issue.



As I said above, the frequency with which such events are occurring is increasing. And looking at many of the houses we see in pictures of flooded areas, these are not developments that have all been built in the last 20 years.

I think he's saying that it's okay to have land below sea level [iif[/i you're landlocked. But then neither are we, which is what destroys his point.