Floods end development

SIR - I refer to my letter of June 29, 2012 warning of the flood risk to Sidmouth due to the increased frequency of heavy rainfall due to the climate changing. Flooding is no longer a 1 in 100 year event.

Surely there can now be no doubt that this is a permanent change to our climate as CO2 levels continue to rise unchecked. We must, therefore, plan accordingly.

For Sidmouth this means no more hard landscaping, whether it is gardens, houses, industrial estates or flats.

It means more lawns, more trees and hedges, returning arable fields to pasture, clearing ditches, new storm drains and holding tanks, making sure drain covers are not blocked with leaves (everyone can help with this).

‘Jobs’ is always the justification for development, but profit is the real motive, as many jobs can be created in saving the environment as in destroying it.

This recent flooding must finally be the end of ALL East Devon District Council plans for the development of Sidmouth.

Les Cotton

Bennetts Hill, Sidmouth