THE floods have hit this area as they have hit other areas. Perhaps we are better placed to deal with excesses of water because historically we have had washes or flood plains to absorb excessive amounts of rainwater, but we must not be complacent about this.

With developments in the Bedford, Newport Pagnell and Milton Keynes areas, we are getting large amounts of water suddenly pushing down into our catchment area whenever there is a sudden storm and heavy downfall of rain. But we have a problem. Anybody who knows the river and Brian Tacchi, with his long experience with the internal drainage board, highlighted the problem in his letter to The Hunts Post (November 21) pointed out that the river is becoming silted up.

The Environment Agency refuses to dredge the river, instead they spend millions building up flood defences. Now this not to say that the defences are no good, but if you think forward a few years, will we have to build up the defences in the future as the river becomes even shallower?

The road at Earith has flooded since God was a boy, causing chaos in St Ives a peak times. Are the police trying to sort things out? No, they send an officer to Earith to issue fixed penalty tickets to unsuspecting motorists who brave driving through six inches of water. What’s the offence? Splashing the grass?

The council, the highways authority and the Environment Agency need to get there collective heads together and come up with some long-term sustainable solutions to the flooding problem, which will, and I don’t think I’m sticking my neck out, here happen again in January/February.

FRED KING

Bluntisham