Meeting documents

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer: Adam Heeley 01296 585459

The Committee received a report which provided an update on the actions taken since the flooding on The Willows Estate during February 2014.

A Repair and Renewal Grant of a maximum of £5,000 per homeowner that suffered from internal flooding was provided. The grant was to be put towards improving the flood resilience of each home. From this fund, £500 could be put towards studies and floor risk reports. This meant that out of 80 households, £40,000 could potentially have been available for AVDC to carry out feasibility work. AVDC had approached partner authorities (Buckinghamshire County Council, Environment Agency, Transport for Buckinghamshire, and Thames Water Utilities Limited) on 9 June 2014 to ask if they would work cooperatively towards the studies. Out of 80 households, 67 agreed to the feasibility study which led to £33,500 being pooled together from the RRG fund.

Hydro Consultancy carried out the study and constructed computer simulated flooding scenarios. From this model, three options had been proposed to help reduce the flood risk at The Willows Estate. The cost of this model and report was £12,250. Additionally, Hydro Consultancy had been asked asked to provide and develop a long term flood alleviation scheme to preliminary design stage at an additional cost of £2,750.

For the model to be accurate, additional topographical survey data were required. This had been carried out by Global Surveys and they had completed the work in week commencing 20 January 2015. The cost of the survey was £4,650.

The final report provided three options:

•           Temporary defences

•           Temporary defences with some capital works

•           A long term capital scheme

The Committee was informed that temporary defences were chosen in order to maximise the RRG funds. The defences were currently stored at a Transport for Bucks site and would only be deployed when heavy rainfall is predicted together with a raised water level in the brook. When a formal warning was released, AVDC, EA, Bucks CC, as well as the residents group, would be alerted via text and email.

To help promote the temporary defences and to show how the resident’s grant had been spent, a launch event had been carried out on 12 September 2015. The event had also sought to explain how the defences work and the ease with which they could be deployed. The event had been well attended by nearly 100 residents.

The report highlighted the importance of corporative work between Bucks CC, TfB, Willows Residents Flood Group, EA, Bucks & Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service, and Bucks Off Road Group. The report also commended the support and assistance provided from Councillors at AVDC and Bucks CC.

The Committee was also informed of the on-going concern of rubbish and other material being dumped into the brook upstream and causing problems when it builds up. AVDC acted to remove rubbish when it was reported, however a more efficient method would be the prevention of rubbish being dumped in the first place.

Members sought further information and were advised:-

(i)         AVDC was limited to what action it could take regarding educating residents upstream about the impact of dumping rubbish in the Riverine Corridor. It might be possible to leaflet drop information in The Willows. It was expected that the dumping of rubbish into the brook would reduce in the Autumn and Winter due to the weather and shorter day light hours. It was more of a problem in the Spring and Summer. CCTV might not be a suitable solution as there were no specific locations where rubbish was being dumped into the brook.

(ii)        flood impact assessments were considered with individual planning applications. In addition, all developments of ten or more houses were automatically consulted on with the County Council as the lead flood authority.

(iii)       that if they had any particular issues relating to flooding then they could be directed to the Flood Risk Management Committee.

(iv)       on the latest position regarding the adoption of the Riverine Corridor at Fairford Leys.

(v)       that Council Officers met frequently with HS2 and would pass on the concerns that had been raised at this meeting.

Members also commented that:-

•           more work needed to be done to ensure that all stakeholders worked together better on flood management and mitigation issues.

•           they were concerned by a lack of action taken by the Ernest Cook Trust in responding to reports of dumping and lack of maintenance which had then contributed towards flooding in the brook.

RESOLVED –

The contents of the report be noted.