Agenda and minutes

(1)   The Committee noted the appointment of Mr J Elenor in place of D Baker.   

(2)       The Committee noted that Ms C Stewart was the new representative of Tunbridge Wells BC in place of Mr D Elliott.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2015 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)       Mr Paul Cobbing from the National Flood Forum (NFF) began his presentation by saying that his background was in Environmental Management and that he had also worked for the Government Office for the West Midlands and DEFRA.  He had been working on behalf of the NFF for the last four years.

(2)       Mr Cobbing said that the greatest impact that flooding had on individual people was the distress that it caused rather than the actual physical loss (the effect of which could be mitigated to some extent by Insurers).

(3)       Mr Cobbing then said that the NFF was a national charity with 13 employees. More than 200 community groups were affiliated to this organisation which ran many dozens of projects throughout the UK. 

(4)       The NFF had been formed in 2002 in response to the major flooding events of 1998 and 2000.  It had gone through a series of different stages. Initially, it had mainly involved various community groups to talk to one another.   It had then become a campaigning organisation which made representations to Government, insurance companies and others.  This role had been supplemented by aim of enabling communities to work together to achieve practical goals.

(5)       Mr Cobbing then set out the three functions of the NFF. These were: helping people to prepare for flooding; helping people to recover their lives after flooding; and campaigning and working to put flood risk communities at the centre of policy making and operational delivery.  This built upon strong relationships built up with DEFRA, the Environment Agency, insurers and others.

(7)       Mr Cobbing said that NFF had a special role to play because people accepted that they were independent. This meant that they could engage with people who were angry and upset in a way which more traditional agencies were unable to do.  He gave as an example, a community in Staffordshire which had been at odds with the Government and other agencies for 15 years.  There were some 15 developers and the NFF had successfully been able to encourage the community to engage with both them and government departments in a practical and positive way.

(8)       Mr Cobbing moved on to describe the “Ladder of Engagement” (set out in one of the presentation slides) for working with communities.  The highest priority within this model was “Citizen Control.”   The NFF aimed to achieve this on every occasion.  Every community that was affected by or at risk of flooding needed to become empowered to take the lead. It was the NFF’s aim to ensure that this was the case and to provide support.

(9)       The NFF had a major role to play after flood events.  They had undertaken this role in West Sussex, Hull, Cumbria, Sheffield, Surrey and in many other places.  The NFF had learned many lessons as a result of these experiences. An example of this was that communities’ needs were very different a week after a flooding event than during the first three or four days. Insurance was often  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

(1)       Mr Tant introduced the report by explaining that KCC as the Lead Local Flood Authority had a statutory duty to produce a Flood Risk Management Strategy.  Despite the implications of its title, this Strategy provided a high level strategy for local flood risk rather than an overview of all forms of flood risk in the Kentish Districts.  Local feedback had identified that there was a need to produce a document for each District that would provide a local overview.  This had been reinforced by the number of people who had contacted KCC during the flooding events asking for an explanation of what the particular flooding issues were in their communities, as well as how these issues were being tackled and who was responsible for ensuring that this was done. 

(2)       Mr Tant continued by saying that the Environment Agency had prepared some local documents entitled “Communities at Risk.”  These had been produced for two local areas in Kent and had mainly consisted of mapping data (including identification of properties which were at risk of flooding.  The information in these documents had been limited to flooding that was the responsibility of the EA to manage.

(3)       The intention behind the production of the “Flood Risk to Communities” documents was to cover all forms of flood risk, including areas covered by the EA, KCC, the sewage undertakers and the Highways Authority. The documents would also cover lines of responsibility during emergencies and any local plans produced to manage risk.  It aimed to provide an overview of all the local flooding issues, and signposting where further, more detailed information could be obtained.

(4)       Mr Tant’s report had included the final version of Flood Risk to Communities: Canterbury.  Two more such documents (Tonbridge and Malling and Maidstone) were in the process of being finalised.  He was now seeking feedback in terms of whether these documents were useful and helpful.  If the responses proved positive, he would aim to continue with this work until the whole county was covered.  He asked whether the Committee Members could give their comments on this basis rather than identifying any inaccuracies, which could be notified to him outside the meeting. 

(5)       The Chairman commented that he had personally found the document to be very helpful, as it had gathered all the necessary information into one easy-to-read document which answered all the questions that people might have.

(6)       Mr Bowles commented that he had found the information contained within the Canterbury document to be extremely interesting and that it would serve as a reference point for a great deal of work rather than being something that was read once and then forgotten.  He considered it essential that feedback was sought from outside the meeting as it was possible that Committee Members would have a different perspective than the public at large.

(7)       Mr Flaherty said that from Kent Fire and Rescue’s perspective the document was very useful as it informed the public in a straightforward manner about the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

(1)       Mr Harwood introduced his standing report by informing the Committee that there had been very little flooding since the previous meeting.  The EA Warnings that had been received had been in respect of the spring tides in March 2015. .

(2)       Mr Harwood then said that September 2015 would experience the maximum tidal range in the natural 19 year astronomical tidal cycle.  The tides in September would be the highest seen in a long time, not just because of the tidal cycle but also because of glacio-hydro isostatic rebound and climate change (whose effects were leading to rising sea levels).  Consequently, there was significant planning underway to ensure that the coastal communities were resilient. 

(3)       Mr Harwood continued by saying that a multi-agency workshop had taken place in June to consider potential evacuation issues in Romney Marsh in the event of a major coastal flooding event.

(4)       RESOLVED that the level of alerts received since the last meeting of the Committee be noted, together with the need to maintain vigilance in respect of the anticipated high tides in September 2015.

(1)       The Chairman reported correspondence from Mr Michael Holloway from Dover DC and Sandwich TC drawing attention to the infiltration of subterranean water into two properties in Strand Street, Sandwich and into the garden of the King’s Lodge, which was a historic dwelling.  This correspondence also raised concern that this may have been caused by the flood defence work recently undertaken by the Environment Agency.

(2)       The Committee agreed that Mr Holloway’s correspondence would be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transportation for his response.

(3)       Mr Ridings said that other properties along Strand Street had not been affected and that it appeared that this was happening intermittently, possibly as a result of some part of the subterranean drainage going into the Stour being blocked up by the sheeting that had been installed.

(4)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)                         the correspondence from Mr Holloway in respect of subterranean water infiltration in two properties in The Strand and the King’s Lodge in Sandwich be noted with concern;  and

(b)          the correspondence be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport for further action.