WATER, FLOODING AND RESILIENCE
London is a city on a tidal river, built substantially below the level that river can reach, defended by infrastructure designed in the twentieth century for the conditions of the twentieth century.
10.1 Surface water and basement flooding
The surface water flooding of recent years demonstrated that London’s drainage cannot cope with the rainfall London now receives. Basement and lower-ground flats, disproportionately occupied by lower-income Londoners, are the most exposed and the least protected.
- A London Flood Commission established within the first hundred days, reporting publicly on surface water risk borough by borough.Indicative cost: two million pounds annually.
- Sustainable drainage required on every major development through the London Plan.Policy instrument, no direct cost.
- Basement and lower-ground flats surveyed for flood risk across London, with a funded resilience scheme for those most exposed.Indicative cost: thirty-five million pounds across the term.
10.2 The river
Water companies that pump sewage into London’s rivers while paying dividends have failed the public and the market alike. Holding them to account is not anti-business; it is insisting that a private monopoly meets its obligations.
- Thames Water held to account publicly and relentlessly for every discharge into London’s rivers.Water regulation sits with Ofwat and the Environment Agency. The Mayor’s platform is the instrument here, and it is a considerable one.
- Every sewage discharge into London waters published in real time and in plain language.Pressed on Thames Water and the Environment Agency, and published by the GLA where the data can be obtained.
- The long-term future of the Thames Barrier settled, with government committed to a funded successor programme.The Barrier’s design horizon is a matter of national infrastructure planning. London’s Mayor should be the loudest voice in that conversation and currently is not.
10.3 Preparedness
- A published London Resilience Plan covering pandemic, terror, flood, cyber attack and power failure, reviewed annually and tested in public exercise.Indicative cost: six million pounds annually.
- The London Fire Brigade properly funded through a fair GLA precept.Precept-funded as set out in Chapter 17.
- Philanthropic and entrepreneurial fundraising for the London Fire Brigade.Revenue-raising, net positive.
- London’s veterans guaranteed housing priority, mental health support and a route into work.Indicative cost: seven million pounds annually.