The pictures above, although of an extreme event, show you just how bad it can get if there is a prolonged period of heavy rain.
I missed the start of the meeting in Milnthorpe on 15th Dec., but from what I heard, the proceedings were somewhat one-sided from the beginning. Jim Bland got a grilling from all sides of the room. Audience & podium reaction to the IDB proposal was fairly hostile, with quite a lot of differing agendas in play, e.g.
1. reluctance to pay for something that does not directly benefit the respondent.
2. opposing what the respondent sees as a "subsidy" to a small number of landowners/farmers.
3. respondent desiring to change local environment to benefit e.g. wildlife.
4. respondent does not believe that the loss of the pumps will make much difference to farm productivity.
5. respondent thinks that the valley will be adequately drained by a drainage systm relying on gravity.
6. respondent not against paying a levy, but thinks he/she has not yet seen a credibly argued estimate of what it would be.
There was general support for a request for Jim Bland to go away & revamp the proposal as speakers thought it ill-thought-out in its current form.
I confess I'm in category no. 6 (above). If the Lyth Valley has to be pumped in order to stay more or less as it is, and the cost of doing that is patently too expensive for those directly affected, I don't mind paying something, but I'm not in favour of doing it at any price. I have not seen a set of figures yet that looks thorough and businesslike, so have to be sceptical until these are produced.
I am still confused about the potential charges. It is possible that the very low figures of £1.25 for households and £25 for businesses mentioned by Jim Bland might be what is left to be raised after unspecified government grants have offset the majority of the costs, or they might represent the average if they fell on every household or business in the SLDC area rather than those in the relevant water catchment. I'd appreciate it if somebody can tell me so I can report it here.
I was listening to Radio 4's "Farming Today" on 14th Dec., and there was a feature on the Lyth Valley IDB proposal. In the feature a Crosthwaite Parish Councillor said, of the proposed levy on householders and businesses, that it had started out as c£8 & c£500 respectively, had been changed to c£8 and £150 (we already knew that, see below) BUT now, figures of £1.23 and £23.00 are being talked of. I have checked on BBC iPlayer as I thought I had not heard it right. I had. I cannot understand how the estimates can have changed so much. If true it hardly seems worth the cost of administering.
There is a PUBLIC MEETING at the Cross Keys, Milnthorpe, on Thursday 15th December, from 5 to 7 pm., regarding the Lyth Valley Drainage plans.
There will be many people to whom progress with the proposed Internal Drainage Board (IDB) is well known. Very simplistically, for the rest of us, it is what to do about the drainage of the Lyth Valley when the Environment Agency washes its hands of the job in 2013. The proposers of the IDB are now called the South Cumbria Water Level Management Group (formerly the Lyth & Winster Valley Land Drainage Group).
On 7th November 2011 a public consultation started. It FINISHES on19th December, you can take part online at--
https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/flood/new/idbs
Here is the official blurb about the consultation
INITIAL FEASIBILITY REPORT and CONSULTATION MEETINGS
The South Cumbria Water Level Management Group (SCWLMG) and the Environment Agency would like to invite you to a consultation meeting to discuss proposals to form a new Internal Drainage Board in South Cumbria. There will be two meetings on:
Friday 25th Nov - Gilpin Inn, Lyth Valley
Friday 2nd Dec - High Cross Inn, Broughton-in-Furness
The meetings will be drop-ins running between 4pm and 7.30 pm.
Please come along at a date and time that is convenient.
If you are unable to attend either of these meetings, but would like to discuss the proposals with the SCWLMG, please contact the group’s secretary , Judith Park on 015395 61239.
An e-consultation is currently underway on the feasibility report, which can be found on the Environment Agency’s website. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact Debbie Peppert at the Environment Agency 01772714008 for further information.
Here is some more info about a possible way of financing the IDB, an addition to the local rates, - I copied it from a SCWLMG press release-- the total comes to c£280,000 (REVISED TO c £294k, see below). The Land Charges are what the farmers would be expected to pay per hectare. The scheme seems to be much wider-reaching than the Lyth & Winster valleys (18355 hectares of land outside drainage benefit area, 87 businesses and over 12,800 houses). The figures below total 24455 hectares which is 94.4 square miles. The estimated rates quoted below are by the proposers.
I quote-- "SCWLMB are confident that their costs can be kept to a minimum through a rationalised system and the operation run more efficiently than in the past and therefore is not necessarily as represented in the Guidance Notes.
An estimate of annual levy based on current costs would be.
Dwellings Average cost - Will vary across the Council Tax Bands 12844 @ £8
Business Average costs 87 @ £500 *
Land Charge outside”Drainage Benefit Area”. 18355 h @ £2
Land Charge within “Drainage Benefit Area”
Area that is “pumped” 3500 h @ £20
Remaining area not “pumped” 2600 h @ £10
* revised to 387 @ £150 in later SCWLMG press release distributed in Dec 2011/Jan 2012 Parish News.