Voters Under Water

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About Voters Under Water

How can we get politicians and local councils to wake up to the increasing dangers of Urban Flooding?

As a local councillor in the London Borough of Haringey, I've been trying to raise this issue for several years. Nationally, it's obvious that climate change is accelerating the frequency of - in the jargon - "flood events". As we see the disasters in large parts of England, it becomes urgent to learn and act.

A first step is acknowledging that what worked for "normal" rainfall patterns won't cope with the heavy downpours we're now seeing.

A second step is realising that while it's vital to have flood defences for rivers, we have a lot more to worry about. Nor is this a problem just for people living on a flood plain, or with homes in the Environment Agency's Flood Maps. Urban flooding doesn't need a river to burst its banks.

Until recently, for areas away from rivers the main prescription was to keep surface rainwater gullies, watercourses and Water Company pipes cleaned-out. This works fine as long as every part of this system has the capacity to handle the volume and intensity of flow.

But when one part of the system becomes temporarily full, rainwater draining from higher ground simply goes where it can. This is what happens with repeated torrential downpours. It leads to localised flooding - especially if the ground is already saturated or has been concreted over for housing, shopping malls, or even patios.

We can try arguing this to Government Ministers, civil servants, planners, developers, and even our neighbours who just want to concrete over their garden for a carpark.
But photos and videos may be more effective.