To consider progress against the Flood Risk Management Group Action Plan. 

25.1           The report of the Environmental and Housing Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 32-41, provided an update on the progress of the Flood Risk Management Group Action Plan.  Members were asked to consider the progress which had been made.

25.2           Members were advised that, following the flooding in 2007, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had undertaken a review of the arrangements for the land drainage budget and its effectiveness in providing value for money.  The review report had been adopted by the Executive Committee in February 2010 and one of the recommendations included in the action plan was to establish a joint Member/Officer Flood Risk Management Group with its main role being to monitor the delivery of the Council’s Flood Response Action Plan (FRAP) which set out the various land drainage projects that had been identified following the flooding.  Although the FRAP was nearing completion, it was considered that the Flood Risk Management Group continued to have an important role to play in identifying resource requirements for flood risk management projects and liaising with partners to secure further funding as well as overseeing the development of a programme of watercourse maintenance and reviewing the Council’s response to flooding events and supporting development of flood risk management policies. 

25.3           The Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed the Terms of Reference and action plan for the Group on an annual basis and received quarterly monitoring reports on progress against the plan. The action plan, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, was a living document to which funding and partnership opportunities could be added as and when they arose.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that an additional table, Table 4, had been added to the action plan following comments made at the last meeting of the Flood Risk Management Group in relation to the programme of watercourse maintenance in order to separate significant works of repair and improvement.  He was pleased to report that work at Tirley, the final scheme in the FRAP, was now well underway and the Repair and Renew Grant scheme had been very successful with over  £0.5M improvements made to properties in the Borough.  Officers were currently working with the Environment Agency on a follow-up project.

25.4           A local Member for Tirley indicated that a significant amount of work had already been carried out in the area and the final piece was around attenuation and rural sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS).  A Member went on to raise concern that flooding was exacerbated by properties being built below ground level and she queried whether the Group entered into discussion with Planning Officers.  The Environmental Health Manager confirmed that the Development Manager had given a presentation at a recent meeting of the Flood Risk Management Group. He provided assurance that flood risk management was a key consideration in assessing planning applications which was managed by the Planning Team as part of the consultation process.  Whilst he was not consulted on every application, the Flood Risk Management Engineer was consulted on all applications in areas at risk of flooding.  A Member pointed out that the properties which appeared to be built below road level may have used permeable paving which had a similar appearance to block paving but allowed water to pass through into a soakaway tank beneath.  The Chief Executive indicated that flooding was always high on the agenda for Tewkesbury Borough and he felt that it would be beneficial to arrange a seminar for all Members to set out the main issues.

25.5           It was

RESOLVED          That the progress against the Flood Risk Management Plan be NOTED.