After nearly 5.5 years the Wolds Planning application for 430 new homes on the hillside above Matlock came to a full planning meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council on Thursday 28 March-The application faced bitter opposition on many fronts not least the fear of surface water flooding in the town itself. I was involved in the discussions of this site for most of those years and invited to offer my thoughts on the impact of Climate Change on the flood risk-this is my evidence I presented to the Planning Committee and to a packed audience:
Good Evening-my name is Dr Steve Martin – for almost 40 years I have been an Agricultural Scientist and Environmental Consultant – advising various parts of government and many businesses and universities.
My comments are a summary of why this site should never have been put in the local plan. It was a serious misjudgement of the devastating impacts of surface water flooding on Matlock- its residents and the businesses it supports – examples of which we have routinely experienced because of recent housing developments.
Climate change impacts on the water cycle by influencing when, where, and how much rain falls. It also leads to more severe weather events over time.
We are now repeatedly experiencing the serious impacts of global warming. The more heavy and intense rain we are seeing in recent years are only the beginning. As warming beyond 1.5 degrees- takes place we can expect and experience more of this –much more rain and much more flooding. Enhanced warming is predicted soon to be anything from 3 to 4 degrees.
This is because levels of greenhouse gases are not falling, they are increasing- Carbon Dioxide, Methane and the warming impacts from evaporating water vapor and transpiration from vegetation.
In preparing for this meeting, I read the most recent weekly Environment Agency’s bulletin on rainfall and river flow from March 2024 – this is what it said-
It has been another wet week across England, although slightly less so in the east and south-east. River flows increased at more than 85% of the sites we report on. Seemly hardly anything to worry about?
But tell that to the residents of Old Hackney Lane where I live and where 3 to 4 new springs have surfaced in homeowners’ gardens and now pour gallons of water onto the lane and have caused the removal of a huge chunk of tarmac off the lane – lifted by surface run off and increased the depth of numerous potholes.
In summary surface water flooding is the most widespread flood risk in England, affecting 3.2 million properties.
It is caused by a combination of factors including intense rainfall, soil permeability, topography, drainage system capacity(and the capacity of aquifers) and maintenance, and physical barriers such as buildings.
But the assessment of risk is very difficult-even impossible at a local level– because all the factors mentioned above have not been adequately researched and in anyway quantified by the Environment Agency- which makes risk assessment hugely problematic and, in my view, impossible.
This is why I object to this development and any future attempts to build on this site.
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