Ministry for stating the bleeding obvious

Why do some people have the propensity to state nothing but the bleeding obvious? You know, like when you go into a shop soaking to the bone from a downpour and someone tells you it’s raining outside.

The Government often appears to be the prime offender in this area. It wouldn’t surprise me if following the next cabinet reshuffle there will be a new Ministry for stating the bleeding obvious created.

 (Picture shows flooding a few yards from my own house )

The latest offender seems to be the chap looiking into the floods of last year. Apparently Sir Michael Pitt, the chap leading the Government’s review into the flooding , “told a meeting of the LGA that preparations and warnings for surface flooding were not in place.”

Hmmm - now did we really need a Government review to tell us that. Maybe the fact that a whole shopping centre 5 minutes walk from my house got completely flooded would show that; or perhaps the fire engine which got stranded trying to rescue motorists in Chesterfield was a good indication that preparations for surface flooding weren’t in place (and that was just in my town).

Why does it always take things to go wrong? Councils cut back and cut back the amount they spend on gritting our roads during mild years and then 1 inch of snow means our whole road network grinds to a halt. Then there is a review which tells us we need to have gritters out more.

I can’t remember the last time I saw any drains in Chesterfield being cleaned or cleared, and god knows if any of the UK’s rivers and streams have been cleared of debris.

Maybe this contributed to the fact that surface water had nowhere to go but into people’s flats, shopping centres and pretty much anywhere but where it should have gone - namely down the drains.

If a Government review is going to suggest stopping building on floodplains, ensuring our drains and rivers are cleared, and ensuring we have more adequate emergency plans in place then I can save them the time and money of the review and come to a conlclusion which states the bleeding obvious right now.

 Jonathan Sheppard