'Pathetic' flood defence plan

A LEWES trader and commerce leader has branded Environment Agency flood defence proposals for Lewes as 'pathetic'.

The Agency is recommending higher river walls and embankments in the main part of the town and, longer term, a floodplain to the south.

But in a letter to Floods Minister, Elliot Morley, local jeweller John Clark, chairman of the Lewes Chamber of Commerce flood defence committee, said: 'The proposals are truly a pathetic effort.

'Any resident of Lewes could have told you on the day after the flood in 2000 that the river wall needs attention. After two years, this is all the plan comprises.

'We are told we must wait longer for provision to be made to allow the river to flood down-river between Lewes and Newhaven. These plans are inadequate and, in the light of the wake-up call by John Prescott about flooding due to climate change and the need for better defences, they are a travesty.'

Mr Clark said Sussex's share of the extra Government funding for flood defences was simply not enough.

'To people who still suffer the on-going mental trauma of being flooded, it is an insult.'

Mr Clark says at the very least there should be the addition of an upriver water storage system both north of Uckfield and north of Lewes.