Keynote Address

It is particularly pleasing for me to be here, not just because of the timeliness of the subject matter or because of my involvement with the Environment Agency but because it is also quite personal. I live not far from the east coast and I farm below sea level, which concentrates the mind. Also my family have been involved in flood and coastal defence since the seventeenth century. Being environmentally responsible, I, of course, came by train and I walked out of the station to find a large sign which said 'The Reckless Engineer' -1 hoped that it was not an omen for this conference.