CONTENTS 31.01.08
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ANALYSIS Blown away
The renewable energy target for the UK will force the con- struction of 10,000 wind farms.
20
BASEMENTS LondonClinic
The deep basement of a new cancer treatment centre is being built on a tight site in London.
v.-(" '.
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FLOODING Overview
Who should be responsible for managing flood risk as the issue rushes up the political agenda.
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Flood engineers at every council
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Comment
AntonyOliver
16 Letters
Energy, roads, bridges, salaries, infrastructure
36 ICE News.
Civils book to excite public
50 Names & Faces
URS'sChristineWolff
"I can already hear the cries 01 'Weil you don't say!' ringingout lrom localauthority engineering offices aroundthe UK"
The public realm needs flooding engineers and more
The recommendation by Sir Michael Pitt this week that every UK local authority should hile senior flood management engi- neers to help safeguard the public frOIDfu- ture catasrrophic flood events will no doubt taise a few smiles amongst the profession.
"Local authorities have been quite seri- ously denuded of experts," he pointed out byway of explanation to the Environment
Select Committee ofMPs.
Is that so...1caTIalready hear the cries of
"Well you don't say!" ringing out froIDlocal authority engineering offices around the UK.
OK. ln this case Sir Michael was referring specmcally to the need to recruit senior engi- ne ers who "understand flooding". Specialists to ensure that future local flood patterns are understood and planned for.
But while he should be congratulated for making this point so forcefully and unambiguously to the House of Commons committee, it is a fact that across the board,
the demise of municipal engineering has had serious implications for the public realm.
As Fast chief executive ofboth Cheshire and Kent county councils, Sir Michael will be acutely aware that the need to manage, plan and coordinate a response ta the increasing threat to vital infrastructure posed by flood- ing is just one area that local authorities have simply not had the expertise or capacity to tackle over the last decade or more.
He will surely understand that to the list we coula, of course, easily add local roads, local public transport, street lighting, etc etc.
To ms credit, Sir Michael points out that we need to re-establish this engineering expertise in local authorities. And not just the expertise alone. We need local expertise with the resources and power to deliver its responsibility to manage the public realm.
Which is perhaps why the latest govern- ment pump-priming cash ta assist local authorities in establishing proper asset
management plans is so important. Only once elected members are really able to un- derstand the scale, challenge - and potential - of the assets around them will they begin to value the advice provided by their engineers.
Of course the 6sM earmarked is no where near enough money for a task of this scale across the whole of the UK. But it mugI be seen as a start.
The process must work alongside the recommendations of reports such as Sir Michael Pitt's to tirst begin the conversation with government about the long and short term value of engineering expertise.
And after that it must gradually and re- lentlessly continue to ratchet up the pressure on national and local government to ensure the municipal expertise that Sir Michael is not onlyfound and hired but also properly rewarded.
IIIAntony Oliver is NCEs editor
