interestrateripoff Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2553998/Somersets-King-Canute-builds-OWN-flood-defences-leave-1million-home-marooned-acres-floodwater.html Builder Sam Notaro bought the land and started building his house four years ago with his partner Alana O'DellThe four bedroom house has only escaped flooding because Mr Notaro built his own flood defences The defences include a moat, waterproofing and a pump system which is pushing water back out onto farmland The father-of-two has refused to evacuate his beloved home, saying 'someone has to man the pumps' Wail gets the house valuation in the headline. Top marks. Perhaps building it on stilts might have been wiser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) More to the point. How on earth did he get permission to build on the sacred countryside? I bet the farmer sold this land off originally 'cos it floods.' Edited February 7, 2014 by aSecureTenant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalancedBear Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 More to the point. How on earth did he get permission to build on the sacred countryside? I bet the farmer sold this land off originally 'cos it floods.' If you read the article it tells you - he bought and old farmhouse and got planning permission to demolish it and replace it with a new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 That house is basically worth zero. Next lot of weather like that and no walls will keep the flood water out. Basically the walls need to be sealed and penetrate so far below ground that the water can't come up under the wall, very expensive to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashinmattress Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Some of his neighbours will be visiting in the night with a shovel. Nobody likes a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 That house is basically worth zero. Next lot of weather like that and no walls will keep the flood water out. Basically the walls need to be sealed and penetrate so far below ground that the water can't come up under the wall, very expensive to do this. he will probably want bailed out...ill sendchs a bucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulfar Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 If I was him, I would be fortifying those defenses to be at least double their current height, things are only going to get worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 If I was him, I would be fortifying those defenses to be at least double their current height, things are only going to get worse. The house will probably be sinking anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Some of his neighbours will be visiting in the night with a shovel. Nobody likes a winner. Especially when he's young and has plenty to spend. Saw him on the news - thought, "How can you afford to build too much house and get a brigade of JCBs to protect it?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/view-a-planning-application-online/?keyword=Notaro It'll all be on there if you can work out which one is his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Appears the water is coming up out of the ground onto the island anyway, so could be fighting a losing battle. There was an elderly lady whose house was flooded in Kent on the news last night. She said to the reporter, what do you expect the Environment Agency to do, we've had unprecedented rain and it is coming up out of the ground. Tend to agree, they can't work miracles. Meanwhile half a million homes have been saved by recent flood protection measures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Has he got planning permission for those flood defences? It would be funny to send him a spoof letter from the council telling him to take it down. This is what actually happened in a previous case. A chap who lived by a river built a mound around his house, and it all looked ok/inkeeping. However the environment agency told him to take it down as it would displace the water so floods more elsewhere. I bet he's not allowed to keep his mound after the floods - I'd want that mound/barrier a permanent feature. Oh, and I like how he's protected his lawn too..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 This is what actually happened in a previous case. A chap who lived by a river built a mound around his house, and it all looked ok/inkeeping. However the environment agency told him to take it down as it would displace the water so floods more elsewhere. I bet he's not allowed to keep his mound after the floods - I'd want that mound/barrier a permanent feature. Oh, and I like how he's protected his lawn too..! I'm guessing he will build a five foot flood barrier all the way around his home once the land is dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinAndPlatonic Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 'We all know it's called "Moorland" but it's not meant to flood like this. All four of my acres are under water now. Another thing that's upsetting is how much this will have devalued the house - if we want to ever sell it now we'll struggle.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 'We all know it's called "Moorland" but it's not meant to flood like this. All four of my acres are under water now. Another thing that's upsetting is how much this will have devalued the house - if we want to ever sell it now we'll struggle.' Don't quite get this naming sea level flats moorland. To me moorland is something covered in bracken at above 1000 feet altitude and evoking Wuthering Heights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Especially when he's young and has plenty to spend. Saw him on the news - thought, "How can you afford to build too much house and get a brigade of JCBs to protect it?" It did look kind of large. OK if he's got a family of twenty, but I can't help thinking it might be a bit empty most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer466 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Especially when he's young and has plenty to spend. Saw him on the news - thought, "How can you afford to build too much house and get a brigade of JCBs to protect it?" Noticed some of the earth moving plant had his name stuck on them. Reckon this is his business... Building houses on flood plains..... 10 out of 10 for initiative though. At least he tried to do something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Noticed some of the earth moving plant had his name stuck on them. Reckon this is his business... Building houses on flood plains..... 10 out of 10 for initiative though. At least he tried to do something. Looks like he had the awkward decision of his house or his business given the fact that his plant is probably stuck for a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer466 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Looks like he had the awkward decision of his house or his business given the fact that his plant is probably stuck for a few weeks. The article is silent on whether there is a mortgage attached to this house but if he hasn't thought things through he could not lose both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Noticed some of the earth moving plant had his name stuck on them. Reckon this is his business... Building houses on flood plains..... 10 out of 10 for initiative though. At least he tried to do something. I couldn't agree more. At least he's not whining on the news or berating the Prime Minister for public investment to dry out private land. I'm waiting for the first NIMBY to come along and say his flood defences have spoilt their view! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulfar Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) Afterwards, I would change the mounds from earth to thick stone walls then earth on top with grass so the look like mounds again. All you need to do then is sort out the spaces for access when floods arrive. Also any Nimbys living in these flood areas that object to wind farms, solar, nuclear power installations should be taken out and drowned. Edited February 8, 2014 by Ulfar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev-all-in Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) Compared to the cost of all those JCB's digging moats and building barriers, let alone the pumps and energy to run them - wouldn't it have been easier to simply just built up the land the house is stood on by say 10ft or so? Surely it wouldn't take that much to build it on either a mound of earth or piles / stilts and just backfill it (or just have a garage underneath)? I doubt the planners would've allowed it though! I can see the potential benefits of a house that could be raised up on stilts when required, or float - I've seen this on TV before I'm sure. It seems ridiculously expensive / pointless, but when you think about how much that land is (was!) worth it doesn't seem so impossible. Of course there is always the option of just building houses on higher land that rarely floods... but that would be too easy. If land really is as scarce and therefore valuable as the NIMBYs would have us believe they will just have to deal with the fact they will have to share the good bits with everyone else - tough titty. There's NO WAY I would even consider buying a house on a flood plain, next to a river or anywhere that may be liable to flooding (let alone has flooded before multiple times in living memory) and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that. Edited February 8, 2014 by kev-all-in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Compared to the cost of all those JCB's digging moats and building barriers, let alone the pumps and energy to run them - wouldn't it have been easier to simply just built up the land the house is stood on by say 10ft or so? Surely it wouldn't take that much to build it on either a mound of earth or piles / stilts and just backfill it (or just have a garage underneath)? I doubt the planners would've allowed it though! I can see the potential benefits of a house that could be raised up on stilts when required, or float - I've seen this on TV before I'm sure. It seems ridiculously expensive / pointless, but when you think about how much that land is (was!) worth it doesn't seem so impossible. Of course there is always the option of just building houses on higher land that rarely floods... but that would be too easy. If land really is as scarce and therefore valuable as the NIMBYs would have us believe they will just have to deal with the fact they will have to share the good bits with everyone else - tough titty. There's NO WAY I would even consider buying a house on a flood plain, next to a river or anywhere that may be liable to flooding (let alone has flooded before multiple times in living memory) and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that. I read today that the original application was for a three foot raised platform. For aesthetic reasons the planner said no, spoil the view for the Moorland folk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Don't quite get this naming sea level flats moorland. To me moorland is something covered in bracken at above 1000 feet altitude and evoking Wuthering Heights. Street isn't all paved you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Necessities Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Don't quite get this naming sea level flats moorland. To me moorland is something covered in bracken at above 1000 feet altitude and evoking Wuthering Heights. I always think of Moorhens. They like the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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