FLOODING AND LAND DRAINAGE
In 2004 The Council‚s Scrutiny Committee carried out a thorough investigation into Land Drainage and Flooding, but failed to make the kind of positive recommendation which would have satisfied me. I therefore wrote a "minority" report, which was submitted to the Council‚s Policy and Resources Committee in July 2004, at the same time as the Scrutiny Committee‚s main report.
In my minority Report I suggested that the Council engage an independent civil engineer to advise on the action that might be required to reduce the risk of flooding for the villages and farms of Ryedale.
The outcome was that my call for the engagement of an expert civil engineer was dismissed, but the Council decided to set up a working group with representatives from the Council, the Land Drainage Boards, the Environment Agency and other bodies to consider the matter further. I do not think this arrangement would have been made if I had not submitted this Minority report. Unfortunately, so far the new Group has made very little real progress in dealing with this very urgent issue
The last meeting of this group took place in January 2006, when the Environment Agency promised to produce a report, and the meeting agreed to hold their next meeting when the report was ready. As at 31st March 2007, the report is STILL awaited, and there has been no meeting of the group since January 2006!
On 26th February 2007, I again proposed a motion that the Council should instruct a firm of civil engineers to do a report, which could be used as a yardstick, against which the views of the Environment Agency might be judged. THE COUNCIL REFUSED!!!
It turned out that the Civil Engineer‚s Report which I initially thought would cost about £50,000 (see previous articles), could be done for just £5,000 plus expenses – although there would be more expense if the engineer was to be instructed to go on and do a “Stage 2” report.
The Council’s refusal to engage an independent civil hydrological engineer for such a small sum to do a Stage 1 Report is beyond belief. We are told over and over again of disappointment with the work and commitment of the statutory authorities, such as the Environment Agency. The Council clearly needs a yardstick against which the views of the Statutory Authorities can be judged. Without an independent report, the Council has no such yardstick.
Suppose you were to be in dispute with somebody else on an important legal issue: would you go to the other person’s solicitor and ask him what to do without first taking professional advice from your own solicitor? Yet, this is exactly Ryedale’s attitude on flooding and land drainage: they’re not satisfied with the advice they’re getting from the statutory agencies, but they’re not prepared to take their own advice to help the Council to challenge the officials.
The truth is that Ryedale cares about the towns of Malton, Norton and Pickering, but doesn’t care about the villages or farms – where half of Ryedale’s population lives.
Click here to see the letter from the civil engineer offering a stage1 Report for £5,000