General Chat

Flats…….

Mr Owl and I live up a hill. A five minute walk from our flat down the hill and directly opposite the bottom of the road was up until a few years ago a pub and directly behind it one of the tributaries for the Water of Leith. A few years ago during a period of heavy rain the water burst its banks and relieved the pub of its ladies toilets and the kebab restaurant next door was completely destroyed. The restaurant had two flats above it and the people in the flats were stuck as their stairs and entrances were round the back of the building so they too were caught in the flood water and part of the stairs were washed away.

A company has now been given permission to knock down the pub which is mostly still standing and build new flats. It will be interesting to see how deep they drive the piles in given the foundations of the pub were damaged. Does anyone live right beside a river? Are you nervous of flooding?

We live about a quarter of a mile from the river so no danger of being flooded here but some years ago we had a holiday cottage for a couple of weeks right beside a river When we arrived we were told the cottage had been flooded just a month or two earlier and the river was already quite high. I must admit every time it rained I found myself constantly checking the water level. It must be a nightmare to live in that situation all the time.

I live, as the crow flies, about 3 miles from the River Severn. It is notorious for flooding when the water gushes down from Wales!! We have all watched in the past two years as houses have been built on places that acted as a flood plain and sure enough, not the new houses, but the houses that were there before and had never been flooded, flooded last year. I would hate to live near a river.
As it is where I am is decided by insurance companies that it could be prone to flooding and the insurance is higher than it would be.

We live on the shores of the Firth of Clyde, but as it is wide enough at this point to be regarded as sea there is little chance of flooding. We are also at the bottom of a hill, so heavy rain just pours past us and down on to the beach.

A lot of places now are being flooded that never used to be, but others are towns built on flood plains, which is asking for trouble. :-(

About 10 miles from us is Loch Lomond. There is a narrow road alongside the loch and then a large meadow between it and the main road. Whenever there is any rain this field turns into a lake, which is becoming more frequent with all the rain we have been getting. In the summer, if the weather is good, it is a very popular spot for day-trippers. A couple of years ago some property development company decided it would be a good place to build some houses - expensive ones of course because of the location.

There was an immediate outcry from the locals, which quickly spread to include lots of the visitors. A planning application was submitted and the Council, showing unusual common sense, employed a land surveyor. The report said that building was impractical, as the land was virtually impossible to drain properly and any houses would be prone to frequent flooding.

The application was refused! :-)

Wow Andysmum that is unusual. A council showing sense.