IN his recent letter Mr C Rainger was dismayed to see that the Environment Agency is designing York’s flood defences with a recently reduced safety margin of only 230mm (9 inches) above the predicted future peak flood levels.

But those levels themselves are also of great concern because the Environment Agency’s computer has predicted that, while the future increased climate change flow will cause the river level in the centre of York to rise 110mm (4 inches) above its previous highest level recorded during the 2000 flood, the same increased flow will cause the levels in the Clementhorpe area to fall below the levels recorded there in 2000.

This computer prediction cannot be correct and I thus conclude that the combination of too low predicted flood levels and decreased safety margins has resulted in the design of dangerously low flood defences for Clementhorpe.

Both Mr Rainger and the writer of this letter, whose detailed evidence substantiating this conclusion has been presented to, and dismissed by, the Environment Agency over a period of many months, are very experienced retired Fellows of the Institution of Civil Engineers and are confident that their conclusions are correct.

The Environment Agency’s current designs for Clementhorpe’s flood defences must be reviewed urgently.

Andy Burnard,

Postern Close,

York