A major flood protection scheme is being developed by Sheffield City Council. A consultation is currently in progress. From past experience there's very little chance that the plans already hatched in the Town Hall will significantlt change after consulting. Another feature of Sheffield's consultations is the lack of suitable detailed information that's made available for the public to make a decent evaluation of proposals.
This issue was raised in December last year on this blog; and again in an open letter to leaders of political parties on Sheffield Council in January this year.
So how has the council responded? This link is to a document that is part of the consultation relating to the catchment area relevant to Blacka and surroundings:
http://www.floodprotectionsheffield.com/pages/understanding-the-causes-of-flooding
The main theme of my comments was the contribution made to flooding in the lower land by the way that land is managed in the hills. Bare treeless land like that on much of Blacka enables much more water to run off into streams and rivers lower down. Sheep grazing and the removal of mature and young trees by conservation charities funded by public money including agricultural subsidies are the motivation for this. In time a wilder landscape with more trees would help to moderate water flows where most rain falls.
I'm unable to attend any of the consultation events but can say that so far I've found nothing that even refers to the management of the hills despite this being mentioned not just here but in a previous Sheffield Waterways Strategy which mentioned "Management of the upland catchment .... to improve stormwater retention."
Once again a failure to address fundamental causes and develop a long term plan?
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