http://tinyurl.com/74vmguo highlights a good analysis of the problem if affordable flood insurance or no flood insurance becomes the norm in the UK after the conclusion of the Statement of Principles between government and the ABI in June 2013.

What it doesn’t address though is the number of very good flood defence solutions available to property owners of all types in the UK. Through the Flood Protection Association (FPA) we promote and support the BSI Kitemark accreditation PAS1188 where it is applicable as these solutions are more likely to find favour with the insurers across the UK. Where you are looking to defend wide-area sites or communities solutions are available but because they can defend to higher flood depths they are not covered by this Kitemark. They are nevertheless superb solutions and it often confuses me why they are not more widely adopted by communities and the Environment Agency as they are often more cost effective and even more aesthetically pleasing than permanent walls and bunds.

Isn’t it incumbent on people to protect their own property? Most people take measures to protect their properties from fire and burglary but very few consider protecting those same properties from flooding. Why is that?

If insurance and excesses are going to become even higher then a sensible approach may be to spend that money to stop the flood waters entering your property instead. We will be launching the “Revetment Resilient Property” solution this spring that will offer a GUARANTEED, ACCREDITED, INDEPENDENT & INSURABLE solution to this problem. If you want to know more about protecting your property you should call or write to us today at +44(0)844 8044 046 or enquiries@revetment.uk.com

Published by Julien Tremblin for 24dash.com in Housing
Tuesday 14th February 2012 – 10:56am 

An “amphibious” house that rises along with the water to avoid flooding has been granted planning permission on the banks of the River Thames.

Once built, the three-bedroom family home will rest on the ground on fixed foundations but whenever a flood occurs, the entire building will rise up in its dock and float, buoyed by the flood water.

The modern, eco-friendly 225 square meters house – a first in the UK – will be set just ten meters away from the river in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

The upper part of the house is a lightweight timber construction that rests on a concrete hull, creating a free-floating pontoon. The whole house is set between four ‘dolphins’ – permanent vertical guideposts to keep it in place when it does rise.

When the river bursts its banks – expected to happen every 20 years or so – the water pressure will unlock the home from the dock and allow it to float up to water level.

The garden will also act as a natural flood warning, with four terraces set at different levels which will fill up with water, warning occupants well before the river threatens the area.

The lowest terrace will be planted with reeds, another with shrubs and plants, another will be lawn and the highest step will be a patio with access into the dining room.

These stepped levels will help to manage run-off from the house as the water begins to subside.

The house has been designed by London architects Baca and will cost an estimated £1.5 million – about 25% more than traditional builds.

The Local Authority supported the proposal as it is a replacement dwelling for a derelict bungalow – a new house would not have been allowed so close to the river.

The anonymous client told the Daily Mail: ‘I have always dreamed of living by the Thames. The beautiful setting convinced us that we could build our dream home.

‘We’re looking forward to sipping our first glass of wine on our terrace watching the rowers go past.’

Richard Coutts, director of Baca Architects, said: “The planning process obviously took a bit more time than some applications, involving our team in extensive consultations and cooperation with the local authority.

“From the outset of the design process we sought expert advice from the Environment Agency to determine the most appropriate construction model to mitigate flood risk on the site; and provide a safe dwelling, sympathetic to its setting, and fit for the challenges of the 21st Century.”

Udgivet denSøndag 5 Februar 2012 01:00 fra Morpeth Herald

ALLE Morpeth indbyggere bør bidrage til en oversvømmelse forsikringsordning, som ville hjælpe med at forhindre fare for samfundet afsvide, i henhold til byrådsmedlemmer.

En arbejdsgruppe for nylig kom op med et nyt forslag til en løsning på problemet på nationalt plan, udvidet sin oprindelige model.

Den reviderede plan fra medlemmer af Morpeth Flood Action Group (MFAG), Morpeth Byråd og Morpeth og District handels indebærer en pulje af penge indbetales ved højrisiko-husejere, men at give folk mulighed for at give forsikringer på disse områder vil de kun betale en procentdel af den præmie, de ville være ansvarlig for, hvis der ikke var nogen antisubsidieforanstaltninger.

Det betyder, at de vigtigste bidrag er delt mellem industrien og folk, der bor i områder, der mest sandsynligt, at oversvømmelse, Men puljen ville også have støtte fra en EU oversvømmelse Levy betales af alle husstande.

Ved en fuld rådsmøde, kommunen enstemmigt godkendte forslaget og lande David Parker, et medlem af arbejdsgruppen, sagde, at det var vigtigt, at der indgås en aftale snart, fordi den erklæring om principper - godkendt af sammenslutningen af ​​britiske forsikringsselskaber (ABI) med regeringen for at sikre dækning fortsat gives for oversvømmelsesrisikoen ejendomme - vil ende i 2013.

"De revisioner af vores forslag blev foretaget for at imødekomme nogle af de spørgsmål, som ABI, men princippet om et system med pooling som den bedste vej fremad forbliver på plads,"Tilføjede han.

"Vi beder, at alle i byens chips i at hjælpe mennesker i højrisikoområder råd oversvømmelse forsikring. Dette er fordi, hvis der er 500 boliger i byens centrum, som er tomme som følge af forsikringspræmier at være for høj, det ville forpester livet for alle Morpeth beboere.

"Regeringen må tage en del af ansvaret for denne, i hvert fald i forhold til at sætte rammerne, og det vil give sit syn på sagen i foråret. "

Under Morpeth model, forsikringsbranchen som helhed ville beslutte, om den afgift ville blive opkrævet over hele linjen som et fast beløb eller som en procentdel af hele husstanden forsikringspræmie.

North Ward byrådsmedlem Nic Bedste sagde, at han håbede, at forslaget ville blive den nationale politik, men hvis ikke det skal i det mindste indgå i Northumberland Amt lokale Development Framework.

By Richard Johnstone | 31 January 2012

“MPs have raised concerns about the funding of flood defences in England, casting doubts on plans to raise more money from councils.”

“In Risikostyringen for oversvømmelser i England, the Public Accounts Committee says more than 5 million homes in England are in danger of flooding. It warns that there is ‘a great deal of uncertainty’ about whether there will be enough money to improve the protection from growing risks, including climate change…………….”

“……………………..The Department for Environment, Fødevarer og Landdistriktspørgsmål, which funds the agency, plans to secure more money from local sources, including councils. It wants local flood protection funding to increase from £13m to £43m by 2014/15.”

“But the PAC says these plans ‘may well be over-optimistic’ at a time when councils face budget cuts.”

Although I agree with making the decisions on what and where flood defences are to be built I always wondered where the shortfall in spending was going to come from too. Looks like the policy makers have woken up to the fact at last. Or at least the ones that scrutinise the accounts.

“Levees are inherently at risk of breaches and overtopping by floodwaters, which could result in the loss of billions of dollars worth of properties, businesses and tax revenue.”

I like this statement from Darrell Vanyo, a Cass County commissioner and chairman, Flood Diversion Authority because it confirms my own beliefs.

I also think levees (dykes, Bunds, earth embankments, bølgebrydere, etc.) give people a degree of confidence and complacency that is unjustified.

Levees can only economically (and aesthetically) be built to a certain height. Once that flood height is achieved flooding will inevitably occur behind the dam and what protection have property owners put in place?

Because of their false sense of security the answer is more often than not nothing.

Op til 200,000 homes will face insurance problems when a government agreement ends next year, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said.
It mapped neighbourhoods with the highest risk of flooding in England and Wales – and where residents may struggle to insure their homes.
Boston and Skegness, and the Vale of Clwyd face the greatest risks, it said.
The government said it was working with the industry to try to make sure the arrangement continues after June 2013.
The pact obliges insurers to provide cover for high-risk properties while the government continues to improve flood defences.
The ABI wants the government to share the risk for the most vulnerable properties.
“We are frustrated with the progress of our talks with the government on this issue and want it to look urgently at a model that would allow flood cover to remain widely available and competitively priced,” said ABI director general Otto Thoresen.

Areas facing significant flood risk

Boston and Skegness: 7,550 boliger
Vale of Clwyd: 7,339
Folkestone and Hythe: 7,196
Windsor: 7,125
Runnymede and Weybridge: 6,541
Clwyd West: 6,160
Aberconwy: 5,500
Nottingham South: 5,043
Great Yarmouth: 4,965
Sittingbourne and Sheppey: 4,295
Leeds central: 4,209
Canterbury: 4,199
Source: ABI

“No country in the world has an entirely free market providing universal affordable flood insurance, and action is needed now to avoid 200,000 high-risk homes struggling to afford cover.”
Environment Minister Richard Benyon told BBC: “We live in difficult times, it is wrong to impose impossible burdens on the taxpayer, but we do want to make sure that insurance continues to be available for the vast majority of households.”
“We will assist particularly households on low incomes,” he said.
The Department for Environment, Fødevarer og Landdistriktspørgsmål (Defra) said it would consider targeted support over the next few months and said further announcements would be made in the spring.

Agreement
The ABI has analysed official data to highlight the areas with the most homes at significant flood risk – defined as a greater than one in 75 chance of flood in any given year.Boston and Skegness headed the list, with 7,550 homes facing significant risk. This was followed by the Vale of Clwyd, with 7,339 homes at risk, then Folkestone and Hythe (7,196), Windsor (7,125), and Runnymede and Weybridge (6,541).

Nick Starling, from the Association of British Insurers, siger 200,000 homes will find it hard to get insurance

The ABI said that these homes faced problems in getting insurance after June 2013, when the agreement ends.

It claimed that, at present, people in lower risk flood areas paid more in premiums than would otherwise be the case to subsidise those at higher risk, and customers in high-risk areas were tied to their existing insurer.

Priority
Meanwhile a committee of MPs has raised concerns about what funds are available to maintain flood defences.

It was unclear “where the buck stops” for managing the risk of flooding, a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.

The PAC said that there was a great deal of uncertainty about whether there was enough money to improve flood defences and protection in the long-term, and who paid for it.

The current bill is at least £1.1bn a year, according to the committee of MPs, and this is set to rise owing to climate change.

A recent assessment for the government claimed that this could go up to between £1.5bn and £3.5bn a year by the 2020s.

“Flood protection is a national priority. Yet it is unclear where the buck stops and who is ultimately responsible for managing the risk of flooding,” said Margaret Hodge, who chairs the PAC.

“It is not acceptable that local people should be left in doubt about where responsibility and accountability lie.”

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said his department was spending £2.17bn on flood prevention over the next four years.

Its budget was cut by 6% in the Spending Review, he said, but he maintained that this was much smaller than the cuts made to some other departments.

“We protected flood spending out of all proportion… showing that it is of real importance to the government,” Mr Benyon told BBC News.

The PAC report said that with people being asked to pay more towards flood protection in their area and take on more of the risk, the Environment Agency needed to involve communities better in decisions on flood protection.

Dette er en del af et par “ledere” vi har skrevet tyder på lav pris måder at forebygge kloak oversvømmelser. Venligst komme i kontakt med os, hvis du vil læse hele artikler.

……….Oversvømmelser opstår, når kapaciteten af ​​indeslutnings-området inden for en kloak eller opland er overskredet. Når disse oplysninger tilgængelige designet kapacitet reduceres med silt, FOG eller vragrester og den hydrauliske ydeevne er påvirket sandsynligheden for oversvømmelse er endnu større.

I disse situationer vandværker og lokale myndigheder må påtage sig deres ansvar og mere effektivt søger at fokusere deres faldende vedligeholdelse budgetter for at sikre, at disse risici holdes på det lavest opnåelige niveau.

Flusher er en helt ny kloak udrensning anordning, der udfører kontinuerlig udrensning opretholde dræningsinfrastruktur i et fuldt operation tilstand uden behov for manuel indgriben. Disse systemer er baseret på sunde velafprøvede principper bruges historisk af både romerne og victorianere men ompakket at udnytte alt det bedste i moderne teknologi, og desuden ved hjælp af bæredygtige materialer på en ansvarlig og effektiv måde………….

28 Oktober 2011

• Fuld rapport – Risikostyringen for oversvømmelser i England

National Audit Office rapporter i dag, at give større ansvar og diskretion til de lokale myndigheder at identificere oversvømmelsesrisikoen og målrette investeringerne rejser store udfordringer, især i en tid med budgetnedskæringer og andre nyligt ansvarsdelegering. NAO mener, at øget værdi for pengene kan opnås gennem disse reformer, men centrale elementer i, hvad der kræves, er endnu ikke på plads.

Lokal viden om overfladevand oversvømmelsesrisikoen er langt mindre avanceret end nationale oplysninger om risiko for oversvømmelser fra floder og hav. Kommunerne oplever vanskeligheder med at rekruttere og fastholde tilstrækkeligt kvalificerede medarbejdere. Kun 30 procent af de lokale myndigheder NAO talte med, mente, at de havde den nødvendige tekniske ekspertise. Lokale beslutningsprocessen hæmmes af behovet for at cross-referere mellem næsten 20 forskellige planer, der påvirker den lokale styring af oversvømmelsesrisikoen. Det er endnu ikke klart, hvordan instituttet og Miljø Agenturet vil yde garanti på nationalt plan, at ordningerne fungerer.

The Environment Agency har forbedret sin egen effektivitet siden NAO sidst rapporterede i 2007. Agenturet har en bedre forståelse af tilstanden af ​​eksisterende hav-og flod forsvar. Det har bragt 98 procent af forsvarsværker klassificeret som ‘høj konsekvens’ hvis de ikke, op til målet stand og instruere flere af sine midler til disse forsvar. Desuden, Agenturet har ydet en bedre beskyttelse mod oversvømmelse for 182,000 husstande mod et mål på 145,000.

Agenturet vurderer, at, på grund af klimaændringer og aldrende forsvar, en stigning på £ 20 mio kræves i gennemsnit hvert år mellem 2011 og 2035 at opretholde det nuværende niveau af beskyttelse mod oversvømmelse. Dog, Statens midler til agenturet, er reduceret med 10 procent i løbet af denne Spending Review periode sammenlignet med den sidste. Hvis central finansiering ikke stiger efter 2014-15, at bevare og forbedre nationens oversvømmelsessikringer vil afhænge af betydelige yderligere midler sikres lokalt. I øjeblikket, nogle 95 procent af midlerne er fastsat af staten.

NAO konstaterede, at de lokale organer vil blive hårdt presset for at sætte nogen finansieringskløft mens under pres for at levere en række andre nye ansvarsdelegering. Og instituttets planer om at tilskynde flere lokale midler kunne se nogle forsvar ordninger, der har tiltrukket private eller andre midler at gå videre i forvejen af ​​ordninger andre steder, der giver større fordele.

Amyas Morse, leder af National Audit Office, sagde i dag:

“Større lokale skøn over, hvordan midlerne er målrettet har potentiale til at forbedre værdi for pengene i risikostyring. Lokale organer bliver nødt til at opfylde de nye forventninger, der stilles til dem – herunder at øgede investeringer lokalt – mens under pres for at levere på andre nyligt ansvarsdelegering. Hvis disse udfordringer ikke er opfyldt, instituttets reformer vil have undladt at opfylde deres potentiale for at øge investeringerne i oversvømmelsesstyring og værdi for pengene til skatteyderne.”

[opdateret 22 Sep 2011 01:54 ]

Ved atRUTH Lythe
Millioner af familier, der bor i oversvømmelsestruede-risiko-områder er ved at blive truet med, at de vil blive placeret på en sortliste, som kunne forlade deres hjem forsikres og usælgelige.
Om 5.5?millioner husstande klassificeret som "risiko for oversvømmelse« er fanget midt i en tovtrækning mellem profit-sultne forsikringsselskaber og en omkostningsreducerende regering
En aftale kaldes principerklæring er trådt i kraft mellem forsikringsselskaberne og regeringen.
Det hedder, at forsikringsselskaberne vil dække eksisterende boliger i oversvømmelsestruede områder - selv om de kan vælge at forøge præmier. Forsikringsselskaberne er også enige om at fortsætte som dækker de eksisterende boliger i områder med meget høj risiko for oversvømmelse under handlen - så længe Miljøagentur har annonceret planer om at skære oversvømmelsesrisikoen i disse områder inden for fem år, og de egenskaber er allerede forsikret.

Det er vigtigt, at planer om at give lokalsamfundene magt til at beslutte, hvad der er bygget, hvor ikke fører til en stigning i uhensigtsmæssige udvikling i oversvømmelsestruede områder, skriver Otto Thoreson.

Den heftige debat, fremprovokeret af regeringens forslag til reform af planlægningsprocessen viser, hvor meget folk bekymrer sig om, hvad der er bygget, og hvor. Forståeligt, Regeringen ser nye bæredygtige udvikling som afgørende for den økonomiske genopretning.

Dog, Det er vigtigt, at planer om at give lokalsamfundene magt til at beslutte, hvad der er bygget, hvor ikke fører til en stigning i uhensigtsmæssige udvikling i oversvømmelsestruede områder, fører til folk står over for en kamp for at få oversvømmelse forsikring. Resultatet ville ikke være stimulering af økonomien, men elendighed for folk, når deres hjem bliver oversvømmet.

Oversvømmelsesrisikoen stiger. Over fem millioner hjem - en ud af seks ejendomme - og 185,000 virksomheder i England er i fare. Selv om vores investering i forvaltning af oversvømmelser været konstant, en yderligere 350,000 ejendomme i England vil være væsentlig risiko for oversvømmelse ved 2035.

Den nye planlægning ramme skal ikke gøre et stort problem endnu værre. Vi har brug for en langsigtet forvaltning af oversvømmelser strategi. Core til dette skal være et planlægningssystem, der forhindrer uhensigtsmæssig udvikling i høj oversvømmelsestruede områder. Vi er bekymret over, at øget beslutningstagning lokale planlægningsmyndigheder, uden ordentlig strategiske overvågning, gælder ikke tilstrækkeligt robuste kontrol i oversvømmelsestruede områder. Opbygning af udviklingen i høj oversvømmelsestruede områder vil gøre oversvømmelsesrelaterede forsikring sværere at få adgang til og, hvis de er tilgængelige, dyrere, måske uoverkommeligt, så.

En ejendom, som ikke kan få forsikring forventes at blive ubeboelige og usælgelige. Det vil lægge yderligere pres på Storbritanniens allerede stor efterspørgsel efter boliger, og ramte inddrivelse af husets opbygning sector.Insurers forblive fast besluttet på, at oversvømmelse forsikring stadig er bredt tilgængelige. Vi skal være sikker på den nationale planlægning Policy Framework sikkerhedsforanstaltninger mod dårlig planlægning beslutninger. Vi ser frem til at blive overbevist om,.

Otto Thoresen er generaldirektør for Association of British Insurers