<b><b>Will Howie assesses the government&amp;’s guidance on building on flood plains and concludes that it is unlikely that we will see widespread construction of flood defences for new homes. More likely the homes just won&amp;’t be built</b></b><br><b>A few weeks ago, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) in association with the Environment Agency and the Lyndall Centre, held a seminar for parliamentarians and others on managing flooding. This has recently become a hot subject in Westminster circles although civil engineers and the like have known a bit about it for quite some time.</b><br><b>The minister in charge of matters relating to flooding and its control is Elliot Morley and he does appear to have a reasonable grasp of what he is about. He takes what is nowadays called a &amp;“holistic&amp;” view. That is to say that methods of flood control or managing, and that includes avoiding floods altogether, have to meet a handful of criteria. These include such things as cost-effectiveness, the fashionable sustainability, brute economics and the effect of these methods on the environment. This is all very sensible, but it is a little like three-dimensional noughts and crosses. Getting three out of four right is quite feasible, but …