Bill Wilson MSP

Dr Bill Wilson, an SNP MSP for the West of Scotland and a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, today asked the Minister for Environment, Roseanna Cunningham, to prohibit major building developments below a metre above sea level and to instruct the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to note the estimates of sea level it uses in preparing its coastal maps showing flooding risk.

Speaking in the Parliamentary debate that followed the Stage 3 Proceedings of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill, Dr Wilson pointed out that Scottish Environment Link had reported that sea-level rises could be greater than previously estimated and that Professor John Mitchell, Director of Climate Change at the Meteorological Office, had agreed with him that preventing new building in coastal areas below a certain height above sea level would be sensible.
 
Dr Wilson said:  “I believe it is vital that our actions to mitigate the effects of global warming should include a prohibition on development below a given height above sea level.  Minister, surely that must be at least a metre?

“…when it comes to power stations, hospitals or housing estates, surely it is common sense to take possible sea-level rises into account when granting planning permission?”

“…I would also urge the Minister to ensure that SEPA is instructed to make public the estimates of sea-level rise it uses when preparing its coastal maps of flood risk.  For coastal flood maps to contribute to good decision-making, knowledge of the estimates used to build the flood maps is vital.”

He later commented, “I have spoken about the potential effect of climate change on sea level more than one occasion.  In February this year I referred to a major report by an international team of scientists which suggested that a rise of five feet, which is over 1.5 metres, by the end of the century is within the bounds of possibility.  I don’t think it is unreasonable to bar major building projects within a metre above the present high-tide level.”

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