IT’S looking as though the authorities are belatedly waking up to the increasing risk of our city being inundated.

An Environment Agency review might, we are told, lead to a chunk of the central car park, earmarked for redevelopment, being classified as floodplain.

Wiltshire Council’s development partners, Stanhope, are “working with the agency” to come up with designs that “relate to flood mitigation issues”.

Flood mitigation? What about prevention? Is building over the whole area a sensible idea?

I can’t believe this little technicality will be allowed to get in the way of making loads of money (sorry, ‘revitalising our retail offer’).

So, are we in for another store-onstilts scheme? Ooh, it’d be just like Sainsbury’s all over again.

MP John Glen wants Stanhope to get on with it – or at least set out a timescale - saying it’s important that “markers are put down in the sand”.

Ever since I read that, I’ve had a line from a children’s song playing in my head. “The foolish man built his house upon the sand.”

How does it go? Oh,yes. “The rains came down and the floods came up.”

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