About five million people in two million properties, live in flood risk areas in England and Wales.

Each year this number increases as a consequence of the effects of climate change.

The floods of 2000 brought home the devastation that flooding can cause.

Approximately 10,000 properties were flooded with a cost of about £1billion.

The question is not if this will happen again but when it will happen again.

The answer does not lie in money alone. A National Flood Task Force is essential to prevent further damage.

The hotch-potch of administrative arrangements surrounding flood defence is diabolical and a single body is needed with power, responsibility and resources required to deliver a strategic long term approach to flood defence.

There are also solutions available which can sometimes be preferred to the heavy engineering that has been favoured and often failed in the past.

Legislation should be introduced to ensure that all-new developments incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage.

This controls run-off by using permeable materials in the construction of roads car parks etc.

If we are to defuse the time-bomb of future flooding, a holistic approach should be taken that combines improvements in flood defence with strategic long term planning.

TERRY CHIVERS

county councillor

Holt ward

St Margaret's Court

Bradford on Avon