I WAS interested to read that the council is considering reducing council tax bills for people who suffer from flooding (November 29).

The council tax cannot be levied on homes that are uninhabited and unfit to live in, so this "concession" is of little value.

People who are forced to move out of their homes are already eligible for a refund in council tax. It would be better if the council spent some money protecting these homes from flooding in the first place.

The usual arguments about the folly of new building on flood plains does not apply here as many of these buildings have been there for more than 100 years.

With global warming, increased urban drainage and changing land use, we will get more frequent and more severe floods. It is a real problem that needs addressing.

Nothing has been done to improve the defences of many York homes since the floods of November 2000. A few quid off the council tax is of little help to people whose homes have been devastated.

Tony Blair visited York in 2000 and pledged help for flood victims. To date there has been no improvement in flood defences, no state money for flood victims and worse still, no upgrading of the existing defences that were within two inches of yielding in 2000.

The next big flood could easily top the barriers which would seriously affect hundreds more properties. Perhaps the council should ask itself if it has a duty to prepare for such an event or is it going to join the Environment Agency in crossing its fingers and hoping that we don't get another flood as bad as the last one?

Dave Berkeley (floodee 2000),

Tower Place, York.

Updated: 10:15 Tuesday, December 02, 2003