I am writing in response to the letter published in The Press on December 30 (Dredging up past solutions to floods), and a response on January 5 (Flooding sense), regarding the improvement of flood defences and dredging.

I am a resident of Rawcliffe, in York, and in November 2000 our house was flooded.

In early 2001, many residents of Rawcliffe, including myself, attended a meeting arranged by City of York Council and Yorkshire Water, held at Rawcliffe Pavilion, to be updated as to what in fact caused the flooding in the Rawcliffe area and what would be done to try to prevent the same happening again.

I myself can just remember the dredging barge which operated on the River Ouse in the early 1970s, and was aware the river had not been dredged for approximately 25 years.

A question was put to the panel by a resident as to why the river had not been dredged, and that surely this would have had at least some effect on the amount of flooding that occurred.

The reply given by the panel was, in my opinion, unbelievable, and I quote “The River Ouse is self-cleansing, as it is so fast flowing there is no silt and debris and therefore it does not require dredging.”

To say I was disgusted with this answer is an understatement.

The flood defence improvements planned will cost millions of pounds to carry out.

How much would it cost to dredge the river and reduce its overall level and surely therefore reduce the numerous times the river floods each year?

Millions? I doubt it. At least it would be worth a try.

J Stewart, Rawcliffe, York.