·         Planned sewer repairs in Cookham.

Cyril Mitkov from Thames Water confirmed to Members there were a couple of areas on the planned maintenance programme in Cookaham which were the Sutton Road area and the West Wood Green area.

The Bin it Don’t Block it campaign was being rerun and Cyril had liaised with Cookham Parish Council as part of that. He added the Lower Cookham Road had some investigative work carried out on the gullys but, nothing was found and there was nothing on the system to suggest any flooding in 2017. Dick Scarf said tree debris and rubble washed down in the area, the Flood Risk Manager said he could not see why there would be issues. Dick Scarf said the pipe was big enough but, the gullys got blocked. He wanted them cleaned twice a year instead of just once per annum. The Flood Risk Manager said he would get the commissioning team to increase the gully clearances

Cyril Mitkov stated flooding occurred in the White Ladies area in the summer so he went over the records and they had all been single events due to blockages so, Thames Water reran the Bin it Don’t Block it campaign in that area and also carried out a root cut to help ease the blockages. The Thames Water team had that added to their work programme so they could keep on top of the situation regularly.

The blockages at Broom Hill Estate – Cyril Mitkov stated he was unable to find anything on that so he needed more information. The Flood Risk Manager said Broom Hill Estate came along at the end of the White Ladies area so it might be linked to the White Ladies Lane blockages.

Councillor Beer stated there was a proposal for the sewage works on Ham Island to erode the works for a borrow pit. If that went ahead, the works would not work and there would be thousands of new homes but there would be no way to deal with the sewage. He asked if Thames Water would be objecting to the proposals of gravel extraction from Ham Island  and that if it meant the system would grind to a halt, then why wouldn’t Thames Water not object. Cyril Mitkov explained Thames Water did not identify it as a gravel extraction site; there was a company there exploring the site currently and once that work had been completed, Thames Water would assess if it was a viable site. If it was viable, Thames Water would still have to give permission s Thames Water owned the lane and the property tem would look at that and assess any benefit and weigh up local views and evidence. All of that was still several stages away. If Heathrow or another company was interested in pursuing gravel extraction, Thames Water would need to go through a process before making any decision.

Ian Thompson stated there was the Datchet barrel arch and there was also the Datchet Common Brook which linked into the recreation ground ditch; on the basis when the area received high water in the Datchet Common Brook, it flowed into the centre of Datchet. He asked for a flat valve to stop water getting back into Datchet. He added he did not want other people’s water getting in to Datchet. He had a meeting with Thames Water, Sue Fox and two other Councillors and the agreement was to put a valve there. Ian Thompson had checked with the EA and they confirmed it was the property of Thames Water so he needed an agreement with Thames Water on the way forward to prevent the back stop. Nothing had happened in three years and he was looking to organise a meeting with Thames Water and the EA to look at what could be done with the recreation ground ditch to increase the water take up. Ian Thompson went on to say a new meeting was needed and asked if Thames Water would be willing to attend the meeting with Councillors and Parish Councillors to look at the problem. The area had recently had very heavy rainfall which almost topped the ditch and he could see water coming back into Datchet which was the same situation as in 2014. The Flood Risk Manager said the only responsibility Thames Water had was if they were the landowners. Cyril Mitkov responded that Thames Water may just need to give permission or install something. The Flood Risk Manager confirmed Sue Fox was going to discuss the stability of the ditch and the barrel arch. Ian Thompson said a quote was needed from a structural engineer. Cyril Mitkov confirmed Thames Water were happy to help and a technical engineer would need to attend too.