By Carl Fallowfield
As the waters finally retreat from large swathes of the UK following the 2015 Christmas deluge and thousands of victims count the cost of the damage caused by the flooding, the hard work has only just begun for Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith and The Border, the government minister tasked with improving the UK’s flood defences.
Before he comes up with a plan, Strat Aero plc, a UK based aero technology company, hopes he will find the time to read a letter he was sent last week by the Company’s CEO, Mr Tony Dunleavy.
In the letter, Mr Dunleavy offers to digitally map the UK’s existing flood defences within 12 months by equipping aerial platforms with Strat Aero’s cutting edge topography software. After all you can’t come up with an effective solution without first knowing the extent of the problem.
Modern technology such as Strat Aero’s is up to 900% more accurate than national survey data, and can map the appropriate landscape to within 10cm, both above and below the waterline. Armed with this level of technology, it is now possible for the Exchequer to get much more bang for its buck and at the same time invest in a pre-emptive rather than reactive strategy.
Traditional labour intensive techniques would take a considerable amount of time and manpower to map the entire length of the UK’s coastline and waterways.
By contrast, Strat Aero’s unique 3-D modelling drone-based mapping solution, which has been specifically designed for flood defences, could do the job in just 12 months or less, and what’s more – it would do the job better.
The Company has the capability to deliver a fully accurate holistic picture which will enable the right investment to be put into the right places and not just move the flood problem from one town to the next which, in Strat Aero’s view, makes its solution so valuable. As they say the proof is in the pudding: Strat Aero’s subsidiary Geocurve has already completed work for the Environment Agency to secure the flood defences of the Norfolk Broads National Park.
Strat Aero is therefore confident it can quickly and cost-effectively create a complete and accurate 3D map of the UK’s coastline and waterways; if that’s not enticing enough, Mr Dunleavy reckons he can complete the job before the end of 2016 and not only significantly increase the effectiveness of the budgetary spend but do so at significantly less cost than currently being spent by the Exchequer. Even better, this can be completed annually to help avoid future flooding disasters arising from out of date data.
Tony Dunleavy, CEO of Strat Aero, said “By harnessing the huge advantages of Strat Aero’s technology, we can look to alleviate the suffering experienced by the victims of flooding, making the devastation seen in recent months across the UK a distant memory.
“Having already achieved outstanding results through mapping the Norfolk Broads for the Environment Agency, Strat Aero is perfectly positioned to roll out our service across the UK. We believe we can provide an up to date and more comprehensive dataset than has ever existed for the UK’s coastline and waterways. This will provide an excellent foundation for the formulation of a pre-emptive strategy to improve the country’s flood defences, and in the process help prevent further flood damage and suffering occurring in the future.”
Memo to the Minister: Tony Dunleavy and the Strat Aero team are waiting for your call.