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Floodstop protects the iconic Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour

The National Trust has purchased the award-winning FLOODSTOP flood defence barrier to protect the iconic Brownsea Island.

FLOODSTOP is cheaper and far more effective than sandbags and can be rapidly deployed by one person. The barrier provides protection against floods and high tides.

Simon Phelps of Fluvial Innovations said:

“Its fantastic news that Brownsea Island, the birthplace of Scouting, will now be adequately protected from high spring tides with FLOODSTOP. I used to personally visit the island when I was in the scouts and only have wonderful memories of the place.”

Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck. The island is most notable as the home of the first camp of the Boy Scout movement in 1907.

Council flood funding announced

LocalGov, Robin Mannering

The Government has underlined its commitment to the Flood and Water Management Act after announcing a package of measures initially pledged by the Labour administration.

Ministers have unveiled a £2m pot to help councils prepare preliminary flood risk assessments
Environment minister Richard Benyon yesterday announced a £2m pot to help local authorities deal with flood risk assessments, alongside a £1m draft strategy for building their skills in flood risk management. The strategy has been developed in partnership with the Local Government Association, the Environment Agency and other key partners.

The £2m funding for the preliminary flood risk assessments (PFRA) will help local flood authorities to produce assessments of local flood risk to comply with the Flood Risk Regulations before the December 2011 deadline.

The National Flood Emergency Framework – which provides guidance and advice for councils on planning for and responding to floods – was also published.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is planning two consultations on establishing national standards for sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) and transferring the ownership of private sewers to water companies, to be published later this year.

Mr Benyon said: ‘Dealing with flooding is a matter that this government takes very seriously and our Structural Reform Plan launched earlier this month commits us to implementing the findings of the Pitt Review to improve our flood defences.

‘Local authorities clearly have a vital role in managing flood risk and we aim to give them all the support we can, not only through funding for defences, but also by providing guidance on planning for a flood and training for staff.’

The Flood and Water Management Act received Royal Assent in April.

Its good news that funding is being continued. However this is just a small fraction of the investment needed to improve UK flood defences

Communities ‘must contribute’ to flood protection

Recent news by Emily Beament, Press Association……

Businesses, landowners and communities will have to make a bigger contribution to paying for flood defences in their area in the future, the Environment Agency warned today.

The government agency, which has responsibility for river and coastal flooding and co-ordinates management of surface water flooding, said its spending on flood management was at record levels.

But despite Government funding to the tune of £629 million this financial year, the agency said other sources of cash would need to be found to protect communities from the increased risk of flooding and coastal erosion brought on by climate change in the future.

At a flood and coastal risk management conference in Telford today, Environment Agency chief executive Dr Paul Leinster will point to communities which have already adopted an approach in which they contribute to flood defences.

In Hereford, Asda contributed £2 million under planning conditions for a supermarket in the town and constructed 440 metres of flood defence as part of a £7.5 million scheme to protect 196 properties including 25 listed buildings.

And in Bawdsey, Suffolk, local landowners and residents formed a trust to raise £2.2 million to implement a coastal protection and flood defence scheme for a 250 metre stretch of coast, with the money raised by selling plots of land in nearby villages.

Dr Leinster said: “Whilst continued government investment in managing the risk of flooding is important, we must now also look at alternative funding streams, including increased contributions from those who will benefit from flood defences schemes.”

Unfortunately individuals and businesses at risk can’t expect to be protected by local authorities and The Environment Agency, it looks like they must take onus in protecting their own properties. Why not check out FLOODSTOP as a rapid response flood protection tool?

Flood defences to be sold off

Recent news (taken from InsuranceTimes.co.uk)..…..

“The thames flood protection barrier and other flood defences to be sold to cut budget.

Britain’s flood defence network, including the Thames Barrier and defences on the Ouse and Severn rivers, could be sold to the private sector to cut the £713m annual flood defence bill, the Times reports.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has named Defra, which oversees the Environment Agency, as one of the departments likely to be worst hit by the spending cuts aimed at reducing the budget deficit. The institute estimates that Defra’s £3bn budget could be reduced by a third.

Water companies interested

Treasury proposals would allow private companies to acquire and operate the assets, with the charges passed on to consumers — either directly or through a levy on the council tax. Water companies, which ran flood defences before privatisation, could take over.

The Environment Agency says more than half a million British homes remain at significant risk of flooding and the cost of protecting them will be £1bn a year by 2035.

It estimates that £20bn needs to be spent on flood defences over the next 20 years and its chief executive said last month that new sources of funding would need to be found.”

This is likely to have a major impact on individuals at risk from flooding – lets hope the Water companies do a good job!

End of the line for sandbags?

“Over the past number of years I have researched into the use of sandbags as a rapid response tool for the both the Environment Agency and Local Authorities.  Using the EA’s Freedom of Information Service anyone can collate their spend on sandbags specific to flood defences.

*Estimated by the EA.

If we take the 2007 – 2008 figure of £74,200 and assume that 70% of these bags are used as flood protection, the real cost to the EA will be £207,760 as it typically costs between £2.50 – £4.50 to fill and distribute a single bag!

According to FloodPACT (Parishes and communities together) a sandbag flood protection barrier which is 0.6m high requires 50+ filled sandbags per linear metre.  Therefore a linear metre of sandbagging costs a staggering £200 [50 x £4.00].  If you then consider that sandbag barriers are:

−      Often ineffective

−      Non repeatable

−      Slow to assemble

−      Manpower and resource hungry.

These points demonstrate that the EA (and local authorities) are wasting a large proportion of their budgets on sandbags.  Sir Michael Pitt’s findings, published earlier in the year validate this position:

ES.49 – ‘…..The Review was unable to obtain any significant evidence that sandbags were particularly effective during the 2007 summer floods in providing protection to individual households.’

ES.50 – ‘Nethertheless, sandbags are still widely regarded as an important focus for community action and they should not be simply withdrawn.  The general provision of sandbags should be phased out in favour of better products such as kite-marked flood boards, air bricks and other forms of temporary defence’

Currently only a handful of temporary barriers are available on the market.  These products are highly engineered and as such are extremely expensive, ranging from £400 to £1,000+ per linear metre.  In the right scenarios they work well, but they could never become ubiquitous (like sandbags) because:

−      Most require bolting to the ground

−      Slow to assemble

−      Skilled personnel are needed for assembly

−      Very expensive

−      Sections of barrier are often bulky

−      Not very flexible, bespoke to each scenario.

Throughout the research & development of the FLOODSTOP  flood defence barrier, Fluvial Innovations has listened intently to the market place.  This has allowed us to develop a rapid response tool that is truly superior to sandbagging.  Not only, in terms of function and speed of deployment but also in cost”.

Fluvial Innovations Ltd named as regional finalist beating more than 3,600 entrants

The Barclays Business ‘Take One Small Step’ competition, which launched in March awarding ten budding business minds across the UK £50,000 each, has named Fluvial Innovations Ltd as one of three regional finalist’s in the South West.

Beating more than 3,600 entrants, Fluvial Innovations Ltd which supplies innovative flood defence barriers and is based in Bournemouth, will now need the public to vote for them if they stand any chance of winning £50,000 in cash

Managing Director at Fluvial Innovations Ltd, Simon Phelps, said: “My idea actually came to me at university when I was watching a TV report on a devastating flood event in Sussex in 2000. It seemed ridiculous to me that councils were handing out ineffective sandbags that just didn’t work, and after spending a year in industry I decided I’d develop a flood defence method that did work and could be rapidly deployed by one person.

“Our main motivation is to help individuals at risk to obtain peace of mind – when a floods happen there is an emotional cost as well as a monetary expense to those affected. Our Floodstop barriers actually works, so I am passionate about it being in the market place and helping vulnerable people at risk – all councils should be able to provide them.”