Floods

From the Independent

Britain may have to choose whether it wants to save "town or country" from future flooding because it is too costly to defend both, the chairman of the Environment Agency said.

Lord Smith said "difficult choices" would have to be made over what to protect because "there is no bottomless purse" to pay for defences.

His warning comes as it emerged victims of the flooding are having to pay up to 41p a minute to call a government helpline for advice.

From John Redwood's Diary

The staff costs of the Agency rose by £30m or 8% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of £395.3 million. The Agency employed 12,252 people including  temps and contractor personnel.  Pension contributions cost £56 m , with a loss on the fund recognised that year in the accounts bringing the total pension cost to £197.4 million.  The total cost of pensions was almost as high as the capital works, where they spent £219million during the year.

Within the capital works just £20.3 million was spent on improving or maintaining culverts and channels to ensure free flow of water. That is a mere 1.7% of their total budget, or 3.4% of their staff and pension costs. A further £69.6m was spent on improving embankments.

I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot less of this sort of thing, now that David Cameron is in charge...

From The Daily Mail:

A hospital worker who rescued 60 fish from their ornamental pond when it was being drained has claimed he is facing prosecution and a £1,000 fine. Clive Roberts saved the fish in an act of mercy by scooping them into a bucket to move them to his own garden pond. The 58-year-old said officials at the Environment Agency told him he needed to go through red tape to get a formal licence to move the goldfish.

Mr Roberts, who has maintained the pond at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for 12 years, said: 'It is ridiculous. The pond was being drained for maintenance work - they would have died if I hadn't got them out. The plan was to return them in six weeks when the work is finished. But I've been told I could be prosecuted - it seems a bit unfair when all I was trying to do was help. I look after the fish at the hospital and now I'm looking after them at my own home.'

The Environment Agency say it is illegal to remove fish from their habitat without permission. Officials say the law is designed to prevent the spread of lethal fish diseases. Mr Roberts, a window cleaner, has been told he should have applied for a licence to move the fish.

'This was an emergency,' he said. 'The fish were already distressed by the falling water levels when I took them out. I maintain the pond at the hospital - it is a simple plastic-lined ornamental pond. Do gardeners break the law whey they remove fish from their back garden pond to clean it out?'

The fish are now in his garden pond in Adamsdown, Cardiff. Mr Roberts is worried he may be interviewed under caution by Environment Agency officials...

OK, you might think, this is just getting silly, maybe Mr Roberts imagined it all or something. Let's see what the EA have to say for themselves...

An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'Mr Roberts has not been arrested or charged with any offence and will not be interviewed under caution. Moving fish short distances between garden ponds is not an offence, as it does not present a significant risk to the environment. The Environment Agency does not investigate such incidents. In situations where fish need to be moved at short notice we can offer help and advice, and would be happy to advise the hospital on the best way to maintain a healthy stock of fish.'

Jesus wept. Any sane person would have assumed that jumped up quangocrats like this wouldn't have the power to have people arrested; the fact that they use this in their defence is telling enough. As to 'offering help and advice', it is Mr Roberts' job to look after fish, it is what he does for a living (and it's not exactly rocket science), he doesn't need 'help and advice' from some political appointee.

But of course, in iDave's Big Society, this sort of thing will never happen again. Ever.