The recent floods in Kent and Sussex last week prompted the leader writer in the Times on Saturday to castigate local authorities for building houses on land liable to flooding.
Global warming is now accepted as a fact and one of its consequences appear to be erratic rainfall so that some areas can receive an entire month's supply in one day. Flood plains are nature's way of controlling rivers that burst their banks.
They are huge overflow areas where acres of water can drain slowly into the ground. Rich fertile and damp, they are not suitable for housing. Indeed even on sloping ground the very foundations act as dams causing water levels to build up.
The Environmental Agency now suggests that planning applications for building on land liable to flooding should be routinely refused.
The River Ray which drains much of the rain falling on the downs south of Swindon runs through the Front Garden making it liable to flooding and unsuitable for housing. Of course only nature can determine how much rain falls on our land, but only man can be so foolish to ignore the law that water finds its level.
Swindon Borough Council should learn the lesson from other authorities' mistakes and refuse planning permission to build houses on the Front Garden.
JOHN C NEWMAN
Bath Road
Swindon
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