UK’s bad flood planning causes problems: Experts

UK professional bodies have warned the prime minister that bad flood planning causes many problems.

In an open letter published in the Telegraph on Thursday night, experts from 15 professional bodies told David Cameron that land management and planning could have reduced damages inflicted by the recent floods in the UK.

The letter, written by a group of organizations led by British Landscape Institute, came a day after the Met Office confirmed that it has been the wettest winter on record in the UK in more than a century.

“The commitment to provide essential funding is a useful step, but it is even more essential that this is invested appropriately, and provides the best and most sustainable outcome to both society and the affected communities,” the letter said.

“A comprehensive range of water management techniques could have helped prevent the effect of water through villages, towns and over the surrounding land seen in the last few weeks,” it added.

The group was mainly worried about the officials, who were not willing to shoulder their responsibilities.

Landscape Institute President Sue Illman said, “This group of institutions were concerned that there seemed to be a culture of blame between departments. There seemed to be a lot of knee-jerk responses to the immediate problem. We want the money that is going to be invested spent wisely to give us a proper outcome.”

Cameron’s government is under fire for cutting flood defense spending by almost £100 million a year since it came into power four years ago.

The government has also been criticized for its poor handling of the flood crisis.