Talk - Sussex Ouse Restoration

Mick Waller believes he has the answer to Lewes’ flood problems, and he will be giving an illustrated talk about the matter this week, aptly enough in the Cliffe Church Hall, which was badly inundated in October 2000. “Flood walls don’t work,” he says, “the water just gets in behind the walls, and you get deeper flooding than ever. What we need to do is to create a barrage south of the town, which will control the levels of the tide. This structure should be built south of Glynde Reach – two twelve-metre gates rise to 4.4 metres, to allow for the highest possible tides. The structure would limit the quantity of tidewater coming in and out, which would mean that high tides are lower, and low tides are higher.”

Mick, who is the Vice Chair of the Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust, will be showing slides of the proposed barrage, which would be powered hydraulically and include structures built into the banks below the barrage to help carry tidewater back towards the sea. The Trust is currently in discussions with the Environment Agency about this solution. “One problem,” he says, “is that the government hasn’t got the sort of money needed for the development at its disposal.” So how much are we talking about? “When we first proposed this solution we were looking at around £12 million, but we believe that by now that figure will probably have doubled.” The talk has been arranged by the Lewes Footpaths Group. AL