Society’s five-point plan to save Britain

09 August 2007
 
Senior county engineers has devised a five-point plan to ensure the nation’s infrastructure copes better with future emergencies.

The County Surveyors' Society wants organisations with expertise in flood-risk management and water infrastructure to work together to determine the correct design standards for drainage systems.

The results would then be fed into an infrastructure investment review to determine how much money needed to be invested in public infrastructure. The society singles out highway storm sewers as particularly needing an upgrade, to reduce surface water flooding. It suggests raising finance through water charges, taxation and developer costs or contributions, ‘all of which will be a burden on consumers’.

The CSS will be pressing for a full debate on the need for more investment in public infrastructure, and will encourage its members to share their experiences of their recent flooding experiences. Richard Wills, CSS president, said: ‘I have no doubt that many people will be calling for greater investment in flood defences, and I would support that. ‘However, the floods have also highlighted vulnerability and a lack of resilience in our key infrastructure.’

Failure to take action in providing greater resilience would threaten economic growth, he added.

He also praised the response of local authority staff to the emergencies.

Meanwhile, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management has urged the Government to give the Environment Agency responsibility for overseeing all urban drainage issues. ‘Had the Environment Agency had this oversight function from the start, it is possible that the very worst of the floods could have been prevented,’ said Nick Reeves, executive director of the CIWEM.

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