Thread by @tcmurray

Once upon a time, London built an Olympic Park and then afterwards built lots more housing and train stations there and also next door in Hackney Wick but they always knew there would be lots of flooding because it’s a giant flood plain in a valley but they did it anyway. The End

https://twitter.com/r0bday/status/1419339808372142083

More than 10 years ago I visited Westfield Stratford under construction. Why so many stairs everywhere, I asked. Because everything here is going to flood, they explained - the whole Olympic Park. They accepted Westfield basement would flood but wanted as much as possible up high

Then over the years watching stuff getting built and not raised up high. Why? To hit house-building targets they deemed it acceptable to build 2,500+ homes in a high risk flood zone queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/-/media/lldc/p…

From a 2013 report on flood risk, but there are many more reports dating back before the Games. It was already a flood risk area, all the construction and climate change will have made it worse and will spread the impact to a wider area queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/~/media/lldc/l…

Outside Hackney Wick station yesterday

https://twitter.com/c_allumwinn/status/1419328787179839497

On construction site visits, I’ve asked about flood risk in Hackney Wick and was told that’s why there are no flats on ground floors. Here’s a planning application for homes which shows that flooding is expected. But how do people upstairs get out exactly? london.gov.uk/moderngovlldc/…

All new homes in Hackney Wick are supposed to have a refuge above flood levels so that people can be rescued - because serious flooding is expected in this area, and expected to get worse. And if you can’t use stairs or you live on the Trowbridge Estate? queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/-/media/lldc/p…

Where else is this happening? 1 in 10 of new homes in England has been built in a high risk flood zone - that’s high risk now, pre climate change. @lgcplus covered this in 2018 - see Newham on the list of top 10 boroughs building in flood zones, which borders the Olympic site.

As for Flood Re, the government insurance scheme for flood risk zones, it will not cover any homes built since 2009.
which.co.uk/money/insuranc…

So, while the Olympic Park itself deals with water in an amazing way through its landscaping, newly paved and existing adjacent areas are at risk. We need sponge cities that slow/absorb rainwater, and we need to push for climate justice from the construction and property industry

If you want to learn more about sponge cities versus drain cities, here's a podcast that I made a couple years ago thedeveloper.live/podcasts/podca…

Here's an article is about how a breach of the Thames barrier is now inevitable and London flooding due to climate change by @Twinwag thedeveloper.live/opinion/opinio…

Here is a link to find out your flood risk by postcode …od-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-floo…

And finally, here is our Patreon to help support our small indie media company patreon.com/thedeveloperuk

For the journalists, some experts on sustainable urban drainage to create sponge cities instead of drain cities include @civicengineers and @iKevinBarton in the UK. Why? To stop sewers being overwhelmed because climate change = more and heavier rain

I’m being asked what can be done. Demand climate justice. Hold politicians and property developers to account. The citizens of these places deserve better. Who will fight for them? Vote with your ballot. Stay angry. Demand that they have solid flooding disaster plans in place

(Also don’t pave over your front or back garden, dig up the paving, direct your gutters towards soil not drains, let the rain soak in, slow the water down, save it for when we need it)