Media & Press
FLAG (Flooding on the Levels Action Group) in Somerset welcomes the recent government report the National Flood Resilience Review with caution.
Somerset campaign group FLAG (Flooding on the Levels Action Group) has met with local MPs Marcus Fysh and David Warburton this week to discuss the future funding of the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).
FLAG welcomes the news that a precept has been agreed by the Government to fund the Somerset Rivers Authority’s continued work.
FLAG and the RSPB call on flood management and water management authorities to make funding choices for the Somerset Levels that genuinely offer a realistic roadmap to a brighter and safer future.
It is time to start thinking about what we can do to tackle the sources of flooding from land and urban areas upstream. This is critical to protecting not only the Levels from flooding, but also towns and villages throughout Somerset.
Nestled between Minehead and Porlock the Holnicote Estate is visited by thousands of tourists every year attracted by the beauty of its landscape and traditional Somerset villages. Few will know that is part of an exciting DEFRA funded project to look at how water flow in the upper catchment of a river can be 'slowed' so that during heavy rainfall the danger of flooding further down the catchment can be prevent or lessened.
The Environment Agency (EA) has kept its promise and completed the crucial 8km dredge of the Rivers Parrett and Tone following the devastating floods on the Somerset Levels last winter. Despite a very challenging timescale, the dredge has been finished on time. The Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG) know that the dredge will make a real difference this winter and feel very positive about the work that has been done so far.
The Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG) has contributed to an assessment of the impact on wildlife of last winter’s flooding in Somerset. The assessment uses a combination of observations by local people, surveys by ecological advisors, and some commissioned surveys to summarise what has happened to wildlife and habitats in the Somerset Levels and Moors as a result of the flooding in winter 2013-14.
Bridgwater and West Somerset MP, Ian Liddell Grainger, has made a dramatic U-turn over the cause of the flooding to the Somerset Levels this winter in the Western Daily Press this week.
Without a substantial upgrade to Northmoor pumping station Bridgwater is at serious risk of flooding in future flood events.
The Secretary of State for DEFRA, Owen Paterson, is very keen for more local governance to take a key role in the future management of the rivers and waterways of Somerset.
FLAG are very encouraged by the published findings and recommendations put forward by the Report on Winter Floods by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
The terrible events that have unfolded during the devastating floods in the Balkan region have galvanised the members of the Flooding on the Levels Action Group back into emergency relief mode once again.
FLAG has to ensure that the terrible flooding of 2014 is never repeated. We know that flooding on the Somerset Levels can never be prevented entirely, it should never have continued for as long or at the levels that it did.
19 volunteers who have supported the flood relief on the Somerset levels will be doing a 15,000 feet Charity skydive event on the 3rd July at Dunkeswell in Devon.
We are pleased to announce that the Environment Agency (EA) have kindly supplied FLAG with paper copies of the dredging profiles that we requested.
Dredging of the rivers Parrett and Tone has now started. The crucial 8km stretch that was identified by the Environment Agency (EA) modelling following the flood event of 2012 is currently where the operation is taking place.
FLAG’s Rebecca Horsington travelled to Porlock Visitor Centre on Wednesday to receive gifts from local businesses in West Somerset to donate to flood victims.
FLAG stands for Flooding on the Levels Action Group. We are currently in the process of applying for charitable status. Find out more about the team...
Since the release of the proposed 20 Year Plan last week there has been a lot of discussion about the costings and cause of the floods that have devastated the Somerset Levels over the past 2 months.
FLAG are cautiously optimistic about the proposals made in the 20 Year Plan to protect the Somerset Levels as announced by Somerset County Council today.
FLAG proposes the following FLAG Markers and Measures for inclusion in the Somerset Levels 20 year Plan. FLAG will use these FLAG Markers and Measures to monitor Plan delivery and success.
A Welly Walk was held today in the village of Stoke St Gregory in aid of the Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG).
The top management of the Environment Agency were still stating that dredging would make little difference to the flooding situation on the Somerset Levels. This is our response...
Following the news that Owen Paterson wants local stakeholders to produce a report from him to consider within 6 weeks on future flood management FLAG has produced the following Future Flood Management Plan for short, mid and long term strategies.
FLAG welcome the announcement made by Prime Minister David Cameron that the rivers will be dredged once the current high water levels drop.
During our campaign to get the rivers Parrett and Tone dredged and maintained to safeguard the Somerset Levels for the future we have achieved the following...
The Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG) feels cautiously optimistic following the visit to Somerset by Owen Paterson.