To elect a Chair and Vice-Chair for the Flood Liaison Group.

Councillor Coe nominated Councillor Buckley as Chair. This was seconded by Councillor Davies.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: Councillor David Buckley to be Chair of Flood Liaison Group.

Councillor Buckley nominated Councillor Davies as Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Councillor Coe.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: Councillor Devon Davies to be Vice-Chair of Flood Liaison Group.

To receive any apologies for absence.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Forum members then introduced themselves.

Apologies were received from Parish Councillors Anna-Louise Regan (Cookham PC) and David Burfitt (Hurley PC).

It was highlighted that David Harding, Thames Water, was unavailable to present an update from Thames Water.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th April 2023 were a true and accurate record.

To confirm the actions from the previous minutes.

Outstanding actions:

ACTION: Laurence Ellis to circulate Richard Hancock’s instructions on signing up to the flood warning service to Flood Group attendees.

ACTION: Parish Councillor Louvaine Kneen to contact David Harding regarding the drain cover near the Jolly Gardener pub, namely the cover having Colt Telecoms written on it.

ACTION: Ben Crampin, RBWM Flood Risk Manager, to relay to Parish Councillor Ian Thompson on the funding for flood defences in the Borough in the last 4 years.

The Chair requested that any presentations and documents which had been circulated before the meeting could re-circulated to the new members of Flood Liaison Group.

ACTION: The circulated presentations and documents to be re-circulated to the new members of Flood Liaison Group.

To receive the above verbal update.

Brianne Vally, Environment Agency (EA), started off by reporting on the catchment situation. She highlighted that her updates came in every Tuesday; therefore, the update was based on the receipt of information from Tuesday 4^th July 2023 and did not take into account the recent rainfall over the weekend.

As of Tuesday 4^th July 2023, Brianne Vally informed that the Thames catchment had received 3% of the average rainfall for July. Natural river flows had decreased at all sites compared to the week prior to 4^th July, with river flow at all sites (apart from one) being below the percentage of monthly mean for July.

Brianne Vally informed that if anyone wanted to find more information on the catchment situation, they could go onto the gov.uk website to find the catchment situation report.

Moving onto maintenance, Brianne Vally reported that there had been some maintenance activities around the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme. Presenting the highlights, she informed that security fencing would be installed around Marsh Lane as well as navigation booms around various structures along the Jubilee River. There would also be some discrete work on some of the in-channel structures, starting with the Taplow area.

Brianne Vally stated that any queries or concerns related to these works could be emailed to her where she could direct the questions and concerns to the relevant team, or the generic enquires team.

Brianne Vally then thanked Eton Wick residents for reporting the recent flooding in the area. She then listed the actions taken from Environment Agency:

·       Contacted Slough Borough Council and requested for footpaths to be closed with appropriate signage until the flooding recedes,

·       Contacted the relevant riparian owners in the area to encourage good repair and ownership to ensure the water flowed freely and any blockages were removed accordingly,

·       Notified relevant local authorities about any potential impacts on local and surface water drainage,

·       Collaboration between Eton Town Council and Thames Water to jointly fund some weed clearance around Roundmoor Ditch and Boveney stream, in which it would start once fish spawning had passed,

·       One of EA’s catchment co-ordinators had been in contact with local Borough Councillors from Eton Wick and another meeting was being arranged.

Councillor D. Davies asked if there was an update on the installation of a new fence at Dorney Common. Brianne Vally replied that she was aware of there being discussions regarding this but was unaware of the result of this. She offered to take this away and forward a response from the relevant team.

Councillor Davies then asked when weed clearance would commence and whether it could start earlier. Brianne Vally was aware of some discussions regarding fish spawning season and weed clearance. She agreed to raise it with the Catchment Coordinator, Jeanette Wooster, and then forward an update to Councillor D. Davies.

ACTION: Brianne Vally to ensure that Councillor Devon Davies received updates on the installation of a new fence at Dorney Common and weed clearance around Roundmoor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 222.

To receive the above verbal update.

Ben Crampin presented an overview of the recent work of the RBWM Flood Team from April to July 2023, mostly focusing on flooding investigations. He reported that there was a larger caseload compared to 2022: 238 cases April-July 2023 compared to 68 cases in April-July 2022. The issues included:

·       Recurring highway flooding,

·       Surface water flooding in urban areas affecting property,

·       Flooding to infrastructure such as underpasses.

RBWM Flood Team had been working with VolkerHighways to resolve some of these issues.

Ben Crampin then explained the flooding investigation process. He mentioned that when he came into post, he sought to improve the Team’s knowledge of the impact of flooding in the Borough to reduce re-investigation of similar issues and therefore improve efficiency. Ben Crampin encouraged residents to report flooding issues so that it would be catalogued.

The flood investigation process occurred as followed:

·       Flood issue reported and received;

·       Issue catalogued into the Case Management System;

·       Desk study to understand the basic information on local flood risk;

·       Site visit arranged (if necessary) to gather local views and information non flooding issues;

·       Record information of flooding during the site visit;

·       Further investigation (if necessary), such land registry information or additional information from other authorities;

·       Write a report summarising the affects, causes, identify the relevant risk management authority (e.g., RBWM, EA), and recommendations;

·       Recommendations forwarded to the relevant risk management authority,

·       Investigation completed.

Ben Crampin added that the Borough could not always make risk management authorities follow the recommendations unless it had enforcement powers to do so.

From the reports and investigations on flooding issues, Ben Crampin stated, data would get collected to determine methods to mitigate flooding. Data being collected included property flood data, which covered internal (i.e., habitable space in home properties, commercial property) and external flooding (i.e., garages, gardens, driveways). This data would be used to help identify areas to take forward flood schemes, such as obtaining Grant-in-Aid funding or Council funding for a projected. Ben Crampin stated that the data was sensitive and only shared with partners rather than, for example, insurance companies.

Data had also been collected on stretches of watercourse where enforcement action was being taken. In addition, information was being recorded on new Watercourse Consents.

Ben Crampin then gave an overview of recent projects from RBWM. Maintenance work had recently started around Datchet Barrell Arch, a culvert running through the village, to remove silt and conduct a CCTV survey. He added that residents and Datchet Parish Council had been notified of this. The works would continue until 16^th August 2023, though heavy rainfalls could affect the timings of work. Once works were completed, it would be expected that landowners (e.g., RBWM, Highways Authority) would take forward any future maintenance as their responsibility, including any defects found through the CCTV survey.

Another project was the Penn Road Flap Valve, part of the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures (DHEFIM). Some modelling work had been completed to determine the suitability of a flap valve and whether there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 223.

To receive the above verbal update.

Reporting for Wraysbury, Councillor Larcombe raised that the Wraysbury drain at Feather’s Lane was still blocked.

Reporting for Eton, Bob Austen, Eton Town Council Clerk, reiterated Laura Regazzacci’s point that the watercourses in Eton Wick were affected by the Slough and Thames Water sewage treatment works. He also stated that uncertainty surrounding Thames Water’s future performance was causing some concern.

Responding to Councillor Larcombe’s comment, Councillor Coe, the Lead (Cabinet) Member for Environmental Services, stated that he had met with Councillor Larcombe regarding the Wraysbury ditch and that there had been some discussions in the administration regarding this. While conceding that it would not be resolved immediately, there would be a long-term plan to resolve it.

The Chair reiterated his request for a meeting on the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures (DHEFIM) and to include himself, Ben Crampin, Councillors Coe and Larcombe, and Parish Councillor Ian Thompson.