We need to urgently address the problems of flooding. Global warming is changing the weather patterns and we must quickly and effectively drain the land.

It is obvious that high tides coming up the Ouse, and storm water going down it cannot be dealt with by the present river system. I have visited various sites along the Ouse and the Uck and have produced a ten-point plan to alleviate the flooding.

1. Raise the river banks by one to two metres to keep the water in the river.

2. Dredge the length of the Ouse, the Uck and the other tributaries. This will allow more water in.

3. Remove trees, bushes and reeds from the river's edge to ease the flow.

4. Straighten lines that meander and widen certain sections.

5. Dig out channels near vulnerable points to get excess water away from the danger zones in the town.

6. Install a pumping station and associated piping at Uckfield to rid the water from the town section of the river when the level rises above normal.

7. Install sluice barriers to control the tidal waters.

8. Dig out a large expansion lake at Rise Barn on the flood plain south of Lewes. In normal conditions this lake's level would be maintained at two metres below land level. When severe weather occurs, the lake would be drained to allow it to receive river water when water levels rise in the river and high tides occur at the same time.

9. Construct a pumping station at the sluice barrier to adjust lake levels and extract water from the river when the sluice is closed at high tide.

10. The river must be inspected regularly and maintained to a standard able to take floodwater and disperse it beyond the vulnerable areas.

With positive commitment from government, the Environment Agency and East Sussex County Council, action could, and should, be implemented within the next few months with completion in the year 2001. To be flooded once is traumatic but to have to deal with it two or three times is totally unacceptable.

-John Adams, Widdicome Way, Brighton