Sir – I think and hope what is meant by City flood channel is given the go-ahead (July 10) is no more than that the funding has been arranged should the environmental impact be found to be acceptable.
A scheme of this nature will require an Environmental Impact Assessment, the scope of which will not just look at the route, as suggested in the press report, but into how effective it might prove to be given the estimates of rainfall in terms of scale and frequency in the Thames catchment, alternative mitigation measures, external effects (ie impacts downstream) etc.
I am sure that there are many other detailed matters that would also need to be assessed such as the the local environmental impacts along the alternative routes for the channel.
It is very surprising that so many people, including potential funders, appear to be
pre-empting or anticipating the results of such a complex but legally required assessment.
Daniel Scharf, Drayton, near Abingdon
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