EA admits environment policy to blame

THE Environment Agency has admitted that pressure from environmental groups to safeguard flowers, mussels and water voles is to blame for the lack of dredging that was mainly responsible for the catastrophic flooding of its rivers.

Datchet (pictured) and Staines are suffering unprecedented flooding by the Thames as the Agency stopped dredging some years back. Dredging had been undertaken for 50 years, but was stopped because the rare Depressed River Mussel was present on the river bed and must not be disturbed.

Declined

Statistics were given to the Agency showing that that type of mussel (so called because of its shape) had declined by 30%, though how these statistics had been gleaned, so how accurate they were, was of course not divulged

The devastating flooding of the Somerset Moors, known as the Somerset Levels was mainly due to the lack of dredging of the dykes and rivers that drain the land, but had not been done since 2003 as the environmentalists were concerned for various flowers, insects and water voles that would be disturbed if dredging was undertaken.

Beneficial

These people even had the affront to suggest that a little flooding was beneficial for the environment! But one farmer told that there would be no problems with the water voles now as they would all have been drowned, so much for the environmentalists!

Surely it really is time such groups, who put mussels, flowers and the like before people had their ridiculous powers taken away, and common sense once more prevailed.