Flooding (Supplementary) [2]

Clearly it can be, but if the question is, is there enough Section 106 and planning gain to go around to deliver all this, that, again, is a constant headache, a constant set of trade-offs. I think, without a doubt, there is going to be, at some point in the not-to-distant future a bill for a flood defence work, which has currently not got an obvious budget holder. I am sure that is going to be the case but of course it is also the case that because of climate change, there is going to be a need to constantly improve London's flood defences to protect and defend existing communities.

Of course, one of the powerful arguments, I think, for delivering more regeneration and development in the London Thames Gateway is precisely because in many instances those flood defences either already exist or will have to be improved for existing communities. It is actually efficient, I think, to maximise the development gain and the number of houses and homes that can be built behind those existing and improved flood defences.