Policy S27 : Flood Risk Management
I am at a loss to make any sensible comment on the proposals relating to the A27 Chichester Bypass and housing development on the coastal plain south of Chichester.
It seems extremely short sighted/ futile to spend millions of pounds on trunk road improvements and housing schemes that could have a very limited life due to flooding.
The case for climate change and the inevitable rise in sea levels is becoming more apparent every year as the polar ice caps shrink and/or continue to break up and glaciers around the world are pictured retreating back up their valleys.
High Spring Tides at Chichester Harbour mouth ie 5.1m AOD (March 2018) can be at or just above the ground level at the A27 Fishbourne roundabout ie 5.00m AOD.
Yesterday evening on BBC1 News at Six it was reported "that the Met Office is forecasting that the world is in the middle of what is likely to be the warmest 10 years since records began in1850".
Paragraph 4 of the Policy 27: Flood Risk Management reads :-
"Development should not result in any property or highway, on or off site, being at greater risk of flooding than the 1 in 100 year storm return period, including an allowance for climate change."
There is no mention of predicted Sea level rises which in my view as a retired Chartered Civil Engineer would exacerbate the flood impact of a 1 in 100 year event if such an event coincides with a storm surge due to high winds etc. Such high winds and storm surges are occurring more frequently and are much more likely in a 1 in 100 year event.