Newsletter #3 (April 2025)
- Louis Ramirez
- Apr 29, 2025
- 5 min read
Dear all,
To those just joining us, welcome to the third edition of the Flooded People newsletter. It’s now been three months since we’ve kicked off our project, and the reaction from flooded communities has been amazing. More on that later, but for now suffice to stress that you are always invited to respond to this newsletter. Shout out to Hugh Disley for a good exchange last time.
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
A takeaway from yesterday’s online meeting of Flooded People.
Legislative notes: planning bill.
Political notes: Climate Change Committee.
Media notes:
WE ALL GOT TOGETHER YESTERDAY:
Yesterday, a dozen or so of us got together for the first time. Having spent over a month warmly interacting through the Facebook group, it was nice to put faces to names, even on Zoom.
The set up was simple. Splitting up into breakout rooms, we shared our experiences and asked, ‘what is it that we have in common?’ And then, ‘what is it that we want?’
We do this for a simple reason. To become an effective collective, we need to get on the same page about these key questions. Yesterday was a big first step.
Facilitating one of the breakout rooms , I found the conversation moving. There is something quite powerful in watching flooded people share their stories and find out what they have in common.
So, for today’s version of the newsletter, I want to share some of what we learned, and start painting the positive vision for change that we will need. .
The message from flooded people was unequivocal. Responding to, recovering from, and preparing for the next flood is not optional. While flooded people marshal immense resources, creativity, and skill in doing this, there is a recognition that it will not always be possible. When it isn’t, the results can be catastrophic.
I am struck by just how much people are doing. In their respective communities, flooded people take over where the government has walked off, effectively becoming their own risk managers, for no money.
Amidst this resolve, there is also much pain and frustration. In some cases, the injustice is almost unbearable – homes flooded to make room for new ones, outright cover ups from local authorities. The experience remains devastating, no matter what.
Debriefing the call with our team yesterday, I proposed the following conclusion.
I believe that the task for Flooded People UK is to work with groups to ensure that the sum of their local actions add up to something that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Volunteer flood management has been made necessary by governments gutting local authorities and responders. This has to change to avoid tragedies.
To turn separate local flood groups into a movement, we will need to work together to leverage their creativity. We need two things: cross-support and solidarity between groups so that those who are burnt out can get reprieve without fear of being abandoned to the waters, and political influence.
In our experience, politicians care about votes, media, and money.
Allowing half the country to go under water and sacrificing the home insurance market in the process is not good business. With ¼ of homes at risk by 2040, there is a considerable reservoir of voters who have skin in the game. The media, so taken with the horror of flooding, there is an opportunity to tell the right story. We will get there.
I’m thrilled to let you know that we have secured funding from the Network for Social Change to host in-person gatherings of flooded people this Autumn. Through this process, we will craft a shared story to tell and a compelling vision of who we are and what we want.
Between now and then, Sanjay and Harry will continue visiting communities to gather your input and have preparatory conversations with flooded people. If you have not met them yet and want to, just answer this email.
Our near-term goal is clear – that by the next time flooding comes to permeate the UK’s news, we are ready – to tell a coherent story, to talk to our neighbours and communities about what change is needed, to stand up for one another in moments of crisis, and to grow this community while preserving its soul and values - the constructive, informative, and action-oriented space flooded people are building for themselves.
LEGISLATIVE NOTES: HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
I’m sure many in this group will be aware that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill reading is now in committee stages in the House of Commons. By some estimates, the bill could lead to a hundred thousand extra homes in the highest flood risk band. It could supercharge what communities are most worried about – unfettered development in flood risk areas at a time of worse and more frequent storms.
We are aware of amendments coming from Green, Lib Dems, and Conservative MPs. These amendments range from technical provisions surrounding developments’ automatic right to connect to the sewers to outright banning of development on floodplains. These amendments have the support of the Association of British Insurers, who hold considerable influence over governments. Our talks with lobbyists (some of them do talk to us) suggest that, while none of the amendments are likely to pass, they will help build support for these measures in parliament.
For extra reading, Harry has helpfully updated the ‘criticisms’ section of our main flood briefing to reflect the state of the bill.
POLITICAL NOTE: CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITTEE REPORT AND FRACTURED NET 0 CONSENSUS
On April 30th the Climate Change Committee’s report on whether the government is meeting its obligations to protect the country from climate change under the world-leading 2008 Climate Change Act was published.
At the same time, the Act is under attack by both Conservative Party and Reform UK politicians who are increasingly campaigning against the net 0 policies designed to stop runaway climate change (and the extra flooding it will cause).
We recognise the diversity of views flooded people will have about this. Still, there is cause for concern:
What is needed, in our view, is a clear understanding and honest discussion of the tradeoffs for flooded people. There is a lot of talk about energy bills (as there should be). But we are yet to see a media report exploring how any putative gains from abandoning net 0 compares with the burden to manage extra flood risk. We will work on this.
The evidence we have available at this stage is sobering. Heating the planet means it will keep raining more and harder, with stronger storms. Without some kind of mitigation of this process, we understand that any form of resilience and flood defences could become ineffective.
As always, very curious to hear your thoughts on this.
For extra reading, Harry (again), has jotted down some notes on today’s Climate Change Committee adaptation report:
MEDIA NOTES:
The 30th of April was a very good day in the media for Flooded People. File 4 published an excellent expose on the Stockport floods. And Flood Mary was highly critical of the government on LBC.
In solidarity,
Louis
Comments