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Flooding risk
During the last few years we have seen more extreme weather conditions in the UK, from extreme snow, wind and rain causing more and more occurrences of flooding. These extreme weather effects are thought to be largely due to climate change and global warming. In essence we can expect these extreme weather conditions to become more and more prevalent than previously envisaged.
PFR are planning to build four wind turbines on the flood plain around the River Loddon. One of the turbines will be built in Zone 3 (the highest risk of flooding), one of the turbines will be built in Flood Zone 2 (medium risk of flooding) and the remaining two are to be built in Flood Zone 2. Bearing in mind that both Zone 2 and Zone 3 in the Loddon area were flooded during the flooding of July 2007 then these raises huge concerns for the residents that live nearby the River Loddon, namely Shinfield, Lower Earley and Arborfield.
Rushy Mead flood plain showing Zone 2 and Zone 3 with Turbines and workings added:
The concrete bases, hard standings, internal access tracks, associated buildings and infrastructure for the wind farm will affect the rate and volume of surface run off as they are predominately bridging and damming Zone 2 and Zone 3, which will increase the probability of flooding in the Rushy Mead and surrounding area.
During the extreme rain in July 2007 many parts of Wokingham District suffered flooding including the Emm Brook and Loddon areas. During this time approximately 297 properties in the borough were flooded. Many properties in Lower Earley, Winnersh, Shinfield and Arborfield experienced flooding. A flood recovery grant was set up to help the worst affected.
The 2007 flood levels on Rushy Mead flood plain with Turbines and workings added:
In August 2010 cuts were announced to the flood management fund by Wokingham District Council. The money was to be used for risk analysis to prevent flooding in the Wokingham area and £200,000 has been cut from this fund.
Definitions:
Floodplain: A floodplain is the area that would naturally be affected by flooding if a river rises above its banks, or high tides and stormy seas cause flooding in coastal areas. There are three different kinds of area shown on the Flood Map. They can be described as follows:
Zone 3: Dark blue shows the area that could be affected by flooding, either from rivers or the sea, if there were no flood defences. This area could be flooded: from a river by a flood that has a 1 per cent (1 in 100) or greater chance of happening each year.
Zone 2: Light blue shows the additional extent of an extreme flood from rivers or the sea. These outlying areas are likely to be affected by a major flood, with up to a 0.1 per cent (1 in 1000) chance of occurring each year.
Zone 1: low risk of flooding (shown as white areas)
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