Live in the flood area, then put the seat down

[Steve]

(23 February 2014, 11:44)NorthernRaider Wrote: Mind you, lets be honest the last few governments and the EA have been led badly astray by the militant greens who put the welfare of voles and a rare floating cabbage ahead of the wellbeing of the community. They stopped the dredging to protect the voles river ban environment, but the flooding has drowned all the voles !!!. Its heartbreaking to see so many peoples lives torn apart as their homes are flooded for months losing so much stuff and treasured possessions, It confirms to me from afar ( and not being judgemental) that the state has badly failed a lot of people, AND the people MUST finally learn that they must NOT rely on the state to protect them.

Actually, rivers need dredging because of the silt that runs off badly managed farmland. A major culprit is Maize, the land is left bare for too long and erodes badly, so badly in fact that the Labour government put regulations in place to ensure that cover crops were planted to protect the soil between maize crops. Maize is increasingly grown to produce bio-fuel.

Camerons government, advised by the ex head of the NFU, not only repealed the need for cover crops but also made special exemptions to other rules for maize growers.

Now the rivers run brown with soil from the fields and silt up. The EA, who were told by the government how much they were allowed to spend on dredging and spent all of it clearing the silt out, are powerless to complain.