To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies received from Duncan Parker and Bob Austen.

In reference to the drowning of a young boy in the Jubilee River in the previous week, Councillor Baldwin suggested the Forum hold a minute’s silence to reflect on the tragic event. The Chairman agreed. The Panel held a minute’s silence.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 21st April 2022 were a true and accurate record.

To confirm the actions from the previous minutes.

ACTION: Denise Kinsella to discuss with Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer on the next steps on arranging a meeting regarding the flooding in Old Windsor.

To receive the above verbal update.

Brianne Vally, Environment Agency, gave a verbal update. Starting with the catchment situation, as of the previous day, the Thames Catchment received about 60% of the average rainfall for June. Despite this, the river flows had decreased at all sites across the Thames River catchments where data was available. She stated the data is available under water situation reports on the gov.uk website if anyone required more data.

Brianne Vally then moved onto works being conducted primarily in the flood elevation scheme in parts of Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton and Cookham Flood Alleviation Scheme as well as works around the Jubilee River. This scheme reduced the flood risk to approximately 3,000 properties.

Brianne Vally then explained that the retaining walls of the Jubilee River channel south of the A4 Bath Road were deemed to be in poor condition. Therefore, Bam Nuttall (contractors to EA) would be making repairs, starting in mid-July and to be completed by September 2022. She reassured that there should not be any road closures or disruptions.

Brianne Vally conveyed that there were some repairs on the Moor Bund and Sailing Club Bund and the flood wall in Cookham. Work on the bunds were substantially completed with some seeding and turfing being carried in the near future. Work had also started on installation of an access track to facilitate the deployment of pumps in the event of a flood. This was expected to be completed by mid-August. On the Cookham flood wall, several surveys and inspections took place to analyse any defects and to make repairs. Repairs to defects in mortar joints and seals and regular monitoring was the chosen recommendation. While a schedule on these repairs had not been formulated yet, Brianne Vally stated she would be able to provide an update on these repairs at the next Flood Liaison Group meeting.

Brianne Vally then stated that work needed to be done on the north Maidenhead bund (south of Battlemead Common). An assessment was being carried out, mostly involving hydraulic modelling of the area. She stated a detailed assessment and report was being prepared with the initial outputs of that work expected to be available in the autumn of 2022.

Brianne Vally then presented an update on the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures Project. She started off by covering the EA Project Lifecycle. So far, Strategic Assessment (Gateway 0 on the EA Project Lifestyle) had been completed.

Brianne Vally then gave a summary of the upcoming works culminating by the completion of the Strategic Outline Case (SOC). She explained works that had taken place to date including putting adequate resources in place and setting-up the project team, establishing the principles of the governance arrangements between EA and RBWM. The purpose of this stage, the initial assessment, was to confirm the strategic context for the project, making the case for change and obtaining direction of travel for this project. The EA were finalising the scope and procurement, which involved reviewing and obtaining data from the River  ...  view the full minutes text for item 190.

To receive the above verbal update.

Denise Kinsella, Thames Water, gave a verbal update.

·       On the Eton Wick Project dealing with the Slough Sewage Treatment Works, further design refinements were needed to be undertaken, namely the sewage treatment upgrades and pipeline upgrades.

·       Over the last couple of months, Thames Water had been working alongside a contracted consultant, Cain Bio-Engineering, to work around reducing the water levels. Some options which were looked into included proactive maintenance and weed clearance. Weed maintenance trials took place with successful results.

·       Thames Water were also looking to install flood level monitors in the next few weeks. Denise Kinsella hoped to provide an update on this by the next meeting.

·       On Moneyrow Green, some work took place last year (2021), including some sewers being cleared and manholes being sealed to prevent the infiltration of ground or surface water.

Regarding an earlier request for Denise Kinsella to circulate a report on stakeholders, Councillor Baldwin asked Denis Kinsella if she could also provide data, timelines and anything else she could provide. Denise Kinsella agreed.

Parish Councillor Ian Thompson asked whether clearance would take place in Datchet Common Brook and the Myrke ditch as there had been a build-up of blockages in the water course which could increase the risk of flooding. He then stated that while Thames Water employees had investigated the build-up, which was over two years ago, no maintenance took place since the last meeting. Denise Kinsella said she would raise this issue with the team which was responsible for this and then report back to Parish Councillor Ian Thompson. Parish Councillor Ian Thompson hoped the clearance would take place before the winter season.

ACTION: Denise Kinsella to raise the issue of the build-up at the Datchet Common Brook at Thames Water and report back to Parish Councillor Ian Thompson.

Parish Councillor Louvaine Kneene asked if work had taken place with Stud Green and Fifield. She elaborated that there was a culvert in Manor Grove, Fifield which gets blocked every winter and then causes floods. Uncertain about whether work was going to occur or had taken place in the areas, Denise Kinsella asked if Parish Councillor Louvaine Kneene could email her the locations and the explain the issues so she could investigate. Ben Crampin suggested he received the email as well. After that, Denise Kinsella and Ben Crampin would investigate the issues.

ACTION: Parish Councillor Louvaine Kneene to email Denise Kinsella and Ben Crampin on the flooding issues in Stud Green and Fifield in which they would investigate the issues.

To receive the above verbal update.

Ben Crampin gave a verbal update.

·         The main focus for the Flood Risk Team in the last few months was improving the grant-in-aid schemes and deciding where this aid should be spent. There were two projects in early stages that RBWM were seeking to push forward in the next couple of months. One of the projects was a surface water study around the Holyport, Fifield and Stud Green area.

·         Consultations took place with the EA on other areas, namely the Flood Risk Management Plans as well as looking into the new national modelling being undertaken by the EA.

·         The Flood Risk Team were seeking to develop and invest in the flood function within RBWM. This would involve recruiting two new officers to the team: a flood risk officer and a SuDS specialist. The former would be leading investigations on flood issues; meanwhile, the latter would take on the role of statutory consultee for drainage within the planning process for major planning applications.

·         Some work took place on short-term measures on the Datchet Hythe End Scheme.

·         Some works on the Wraysbury drain had been completed. A plan for the next steps for the Wraysbury drain was to be put together by the end of July 2022. This would likely include both landowner engagement and some maintenance work from RBWM.

·         Some initial surveys had taken place on the Datchet Barrell Arch. The results conveyed that no structural issues had been found, with only some minor lining in a few areas recommended. The next stages were to remove the silt within the Datchet barrel arch and then complete the survey and check if any more remedial was required.

·         On the flat valve on Penn Road at Datchet Common Brook, RBWM Flood Risk Team had engaged with JBA Consulting to do modelling work around the flat valve to better understand the impacts it may have. A kickoff meeting was going to be held with JBA Consulting in a couple weeks to discuss the project further before maintenance work took place.

·         Ben Crampin stated he had visited areas of the Borough as well as meeting with RBWM and Parish Councillors to investigate any flooding issues in the last few months. He was open to being invited by any of the local councillors to discuss local flooding issues in certain areas.

·         Section 19 investigation report at Moneyrow Green had been completed. A few things needed to be sorted before the report could be published. This included developing the website to create somewhere for these reports to be published.

·         A review of RBWM duties had been completed. While the Council was fulfilling these duties, there were some areas for improvement. One of these was the flood risk asset register for the Council. Ben Crampin planned to send out a questionnaire to RBWM Councillors over the next month or so to better understand where the flood risk assets were within the Borough. The reported assets were to be reviewed and determine whether they were appropriate to add to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 192.

To receive the above verbal update.

Parish Councillor Ian Thompson started the item by raising to Brianne Vally that the flood alert boards in Datchet were rusting and the sealed information in the signs had fallen away. He then asked Brianne Vally when replacements boards could be installed and if this could be done before the upcoming flooding season in the winter. Brianne Vally replied that this issue had been raised in a number of meetings. She stated that EA were seeking to replace those signs. She offered to highlight the sources of funding as well as provide the PDF of the signs.

Parish Councillor Louvaine Kneene explained that the parish council set up a flood working group, which discussed flood issues and included local residents. She asked Ben Crampin if he would like or would be free to attend one of these meetings. Ben Crampin replied he was open to attend.