HOW refreshing it is to see some long-term thinking for a change.

In its latest York flood defence update, the Environment Agency has given encouraging reassurances that the upgraded Foss Barrier will be operational by Christmas. Given the amounts of rain we’ve been experiencing recently, that will be a relief to many in York.

The agency has also outlined plans to use part of the additional £45 million to be spent on York’s flood defences over the next five years to build low-level flood walls beside vulnerable stretches of the Foss, such as at Huntington Road.

This is all good news. Most encouraging of all, however, is the long-term plan to tackle flooding at its source - by reducing the amount of water that flows into the Foss in the first place.

It is clear that, given the anticipated impact of climate change, this will be the only way to keep flooding in the Foss catchment area manageable. Unless we “slow the flow” of water draining into the Foss upstream, the agency predicts that in 100 years time York’s flood defences will need to be 90cm higher than now to provide the same level of protection.

Its solution: a series of natural, low-cost flood-defence measures to be introduced gradually around the upper reaches of the Foss catchment area over the next 100 years. Drawing upon the same principles as the successful “slow the flow” project at Pickering, these measures would include new flood storage areas; planting trees beside rivers; blocking moorland drainage ditches so water doesn’t run off so quickly; “leaky dams” of woody debris to hold water up; and grassy “buffer banks”.

No funding has been identified for any these proposals yet. But it is good to see the agency thinking ahead, and planning for the long-term future in a sensible, sustainable way.