GB allowed to flood all to save the endangered "Depressed River Mussel"

According to the Spectator
your homes were allowed to flood all to save this little guy

‘The river Thames was left undredged to prevent the disturbance of a rare mollusk called the depressed river mussel. Seriously, this is not funny. It would only be funny if it were not happening. But it is. The species known as the depressed taxpayer doesn’t seem to be on any priority list.’

Camilla Swift goes on to report how the EA has plans to move forward with a wild trout project in Chertsey, which will dam the river and cause even more flooding in the future.

So as you Brits watch the flood waters pouring into your living rooms you can be proud that you did your parts to save the rare "Depressed River Mussel" for future generations. And like they say in the article, this would all be very funny if it wasn't just downright stupid.

The world has gone mad................a perfect scenario for any weird idea to take root in educated peoples heads.....
trouble is they have no common sense to go with it......
I feel for Great Britain, but its a worldwide problem.....these eggheads have divorced themselves from reality and humanity all at the same time......

reply to post by stirling


Dude... With an attitude like that it's no wonder those poor little river mussels are so depressed!
Big Meany...

Living here in Colorado we too are subjected to this extreme from of bunny huggerism. And their never locals either, these are people who come from all over, protest one thing or another, demand we change our laws and policies to meet their standards and they don't even live here! what's up with that?

Thats local government and politics for you, all a bunch of halfwits that are only concerned with their own little niche, they could not give a toss about anyone or anything. A bloody muscle, what does that bring to the party, does it pay tax or work

I'm afraid the halfwits are those in government and the rightwing press who believe that conservation projects and the failure to dredge rivers are the reason for the floods. They're not: the wettest winter on record and living on flood plains (there's a clue in the name) are.

There are many ways in which we can mitigate flooding and help wildlife and the environment. Dredging is not one of them, and politicians and journalists are the last people we should be listening to here.

HardCorps
reply to post by stirling

 

Dude... With an attitude like that it's no wonder those poor little river mussels are so depressed!
Big Meany...

Living here in Colorado we too are subjected to this extreme from of bunny huggerism. And their never locals either, these are people who come from all over, protest one thing or another, demand we change our laws and policies to meet their standards and they don't even live here! what's up with that?

Nice. I am sure you refer in part to the elusive Prebbles Field Mouse ! I asked a eco-minded prebbles mouse counting expedition member one time what was so different about the prebbles than other garden variety field mouses and other vermin of the type. "they're very photogenic" was the response. The local coyote and lynx spokesman says they taste just like chicken !

reply to post by SummerLightning


Exactly...

Dredging would have had only a marginal affect on the flood levels. As you have correctly stated, the main cause of the flooding is a 3 month spell of well above average rainfall combined with a propensity to build on flood plains, which is actually the domain of local authorities not central Government, who have actually ignored most (if not all) of the recommendations of the Pitt Report after the 2007 flooding, one of which was to either stop building on flood plains, or design houses to accommodate flooding.

Also, it is worth mentioning, especially considering the Somerset Levels, that Farmers (the ones whining about dredging) have responsibilities to manage the land properly themselves which they have failed to do, exacerbating the problem.

And just to add, GB wasn't "allowed to flood".

Around 5,000 properties were affected in this years flooding, compared to 50,000 in 2007. In fact, it is down to the EA actually taking on board all but one of the recommendations after 2007 that the flooding was mitigated despite the extreme weather.

Just to put that number into context, there are around 27 million households in the UK, so only around 0.02% of homes were flooded - hardly the "GB allowed to flood" at all...

reply to post by stumason

Yes, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story, eh? To quote Homer: "Let the baby have his bottle".

"Deny Ignorance" - quite how ATS hasn't been prosecuted under the Trades Descriptions Act before now is a mystery to me.

tencap77
Not sure what homer has to do with the concise and logical summation supplied by "stumason". also, never heard of something called a "trades description act". sounds foreign. and stupid.

I think you may have misunderstood him there, I believe he was in agreement with what I said.

Trade Descriptions Act I suppose to a Yank it would be "foreign" but it is not "stupid". It is a vital piece of consumer rights legislation.

tencap77
Anyway, the "river" that was spoken about in the OP would be called a "stream" in the country that i live in.

No need to take that attitude - this is the River Thames we're on about which is the second longest the UK and passes through one of the worlds largest cities and, arguably, the worlds financial centre. Not to be sniffed at.

tencap77
God Save the Queen.
apparently she's surrounded by idiots. at least tha't s what my bonnie lass from Scotland just siad !

I have no idea what you're on about now....

ATS- Deny Ignorance - the organ warmer says a U.S. company should BOW DOWN to some BRITISH LAW ! REALLY! Hey, they're business address is in Arizona, that's in the USA. The only thing that can't be denied is this, when your dealing with the English, you should deny arrogance, that's all they bring to the table. To quote my wee Scots Mother-in-law, the only thing the English are good for is fertilizing your fields.

If those little buggers were worth anything at all they would have been made extinct as the dodo all ready

There is a modern form of dodo like critter that is on the virge of going extinct
but unlike most of the intelligent life on this planet this form of dodo is hell bent on extincting himself...

Allowed to flood?? didn't realise we controlled the weather (sorry that's a different thread )

like someone mentioned it was approx. 0.02% of homes that flooded and IMO the problem among other things, is building regular old homes in flood plains, if your going to develop, build and live in a flood plain then build smarter homes (hence why we've brought the Dutch over to help).

reply to post by tencap77


I think you're missing the point he was making, in that these days any such tripe can be put on ATS and be applauded, whether it is actually grounded in reality or not. He is, much like others I have seen, merely lamenting the loss of the "Deny Ignorance" ethos ATS was famous for, instead these days it seems to be quite the opposite.

I don't suspect for one moment he was actually saying ATS should be prosecuted or "bow down" to anyone.

EDIT: As for your continual insistence on quoting some old Scottish crone, are you doing this to try and get a rise? Contrary to [popular belief, us English do not harbour any ill will towards our porridge munching friends to the north - tis they who have a right bee in their bonnet about us "bastard English" for some reason.

reply to post by HardCorps


whats up doc?
agenda 21
also known as...
Much fewer people and much more green belt.
You are standing on thier grass, drinkin' their water, and breathing their air, and replacing it with CO2...
Of course they wanna suck the wealth out of you and then watch you die
After all its their wealth

tencap77
The only thing that can't be denied is this, when your dealing with the English, you should deny arrogance, that's all they bring to the table. To quote my wee Scots Mother-in-law, the only thing the English are good for is fertilizing your fields.

This is the kind of ignorance that needs denying.....and listening to mother in laws = fatal mistake

Ever since the brits musselled in and extincted William Wallace thames darned scots have been depressed....

reply to post by Danbones


Actually their survival is part of a wider project to inject life back into the Thames which was declared biologically dead in the 50's after nigh on 200 years of pollution. Nowadays the Thames has a large wildlife population thanks to conservation efforts.

You'd know, if you bothered to look Dan (which we know you haven't, because you never do), that Shellfish are particularly sensitive to pollution, hence why they are endangered and not because they have some sort of suicidal outlook on life. Without human involvement, they wouldn't be on the endangered list.

reply to post by stumason

Good one, Stu. Your reply is almost word-for-word the same as the one I was in the process of writing! The fact that I referred to your explanation as "the truth" was a bit of a giveaway. Or so you would have thought. Your later post articulates my point absolutely perfectly. Better than I could have done it myself, in fact.

My "let the baby have his bottle" reference was possibly a bit too oblique. I should have used plain English - "if that's what people want to believe, then let them".

How many times have you been in a discussion and said to yourself "This is where there is no point continuing". And having just seen the tone of tencap77's latest reply, that is where we are.

LOL at the "organ warmer" insult, though. Must remember to use that one myself.