To receive the above verbal update.

Update on the River Thames Scheme

David Bedlington, Environment Agency (EA), provided a timeline for the River Thames Scheme (RTS) and circulated a handout of the timeline (attached to the minutes).

David Bedlington stated that Surrey County Council had approved funding for the scheme at their Full Council meeting held at 14.00 on 29 October 2019 and that meant that funding for the scheme was now in place. He confirmed that based on the Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding available, plus funding from central government and committed funding from other partners such as the Royal Borough and private contributors, funding for the RTS was now in place.

Surrey County Council had made a press announcement before their Full Council meeting which only related to the funding they were contributing to the scheme; as long as all the other promises of funding were confirmed, the scheme was now fully funded. The next step was to go to the Treasure with a business case so there were four or five months to firm up all funding before approaching the Treasury.

David Bedlington confirmed the announcement made by Surrey County Council regarding the funding being in place was not an official EA announcement, it was a Surrey County Council announcement; the approval of the business case by the Treasury will allow the EA to carry out all works required to go into the final business case. It will also allow engagement with stakeholders, and the public to commence. This would include open public forums and open days. Members of the Flood Liaison Group would be invited to attend.

v  Action – David Bedlington to attend the next meeting of the Flood Liaison Group and facilitate discussion on how public engagement on the RTS may be progressed.

David Bedlington explained to Members that OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) was the procurement process the EA would be following due to the value of the scheme being so high. The EA would use a bespoke competitive tender to enable contractors to put together bids for the contract to be received by November 2020. The earlier the EA went out to the market, the less risky the project became as the contractor chosen would be on board from the beginning of the project, allowing early contractor engagement on issues such as buildability and programming of the works. The tender included the design and build aspects of the scheme.

There is a high degree of confidence in the envisaged four year construction programme and it is anticipated that the diversion channels will be constructed in parallel (i.e. at the same time). Works will not however end at substantial completion / operational completion of the diversion channels and creation of the pocket parks, and completion of the cycle ways and landscaping works could take a further 5 years.

Dave Bedlington confirmed that there is a contingency allow of circa 35% included in the scheme estimates to allow for potential risks during the construction of the RTS.

David Bedlington also confirmed that the route maps for the diversion channels were updated in spring 2019 and were available on the EA website.

v  Action – David Bedlington to send the link for the route maps on the EA website to the Clerk for circulation to the Flood Liaison Group.

Catchment situation report for the River Thames

Brianne Valley provided Members with an update on the catchment situation report for the river Thames and stated the Thames Catchment has received 164% of the average rainfall for October, up to the 28th October. The past week has been unsettled, with most of the rainfall occurring Thursday, Friday and Saturday (24, 25 and 26 October). Widespread rainfall totals averaged around 23mm in the northwest, 16mm in the southwest and 12mm in the northeast. Flows have increased at all sites due to rainfall accumulations over the past week and flows at all sites except Fieldes Weir are well above the long term average for October. Soil moisture deficits have continued to drop due to the recent rainfall. SMDs in all areas are below the long term average for October. Out of the observed groundwater indicator sites, there are: 2 sites at exceptionally low levels; 2 sites at notably low levels, 3 sites at below normal levels, 5 sites at normal levels, 1 sites at above normal, 1 site at notably high, and 1 site at exceptionally high levels for the time of year. Groundwater levels rose at 10 indicator sites, fell at 4 sites and levelled off at 1 site this week. For more detail on rainfall, river flows and groundwater levels please consult our water situation report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-situation-local-area-reports

v  Action – Brianne Vally, Environment Agency to send the link for the water situation report for the Thames Valley area to the clerk to circulate to the Members of the Flood Liaison Group.

Brianne Vally stated a “Challenges and Choices” consultation would open shortly. This consultation related to the future management of the water environment and talked about flow, climate and future pressures on the water environment, from 2021 onwards. She suggested that Members reviewed and  made comments on the consultation.

v  Action – Brianne Vally to forward the link for the Challenges and Choices consultation to the Clerk for circulation to the Flood Liaison Group Members.

Dick Scarff stated that the Friends of Battlemead Common included a sub group focusing on the management of the waterways. The first meeting was approximately two weeks ago and the EA sent two representatives. Their interest however seemed to focus on biodiversity in the area and they were not aware of concerns regarding flooding in the area. Brianne Vally responded there was a number of activities pertaining to the Maidenhead Waterways Project and the EA would like to discuss issues regarding the wider project with the Royal Borough so it could be agreed how the EA would work through issues moving forward. Brianne Vally hoped a meeting could be arranged as early as end of November 2019, and following that, the EA would know if the Friends of Battlemead Common was the right group to work with to address these concerns; however, no meeting had been scheduled yet. Dick Scarff commented that there needed to be more coordination between the Borough and the EA regarding flooding interests.

Mike Williams enquired about the flood modelling of the Thames. Brianne Vally confirmed the hydraulic modelling of the Lower Thames had been ongoing for a number of years. She had been informed that the outputs were currently being packaged to allow updating of the public facing mapping on the EA website.. The next update to flood maps for planning was due on 31 October 2019 but, if this update did not happen, it would be made at the end of January 2020. Once published, she would meet with the Parishes and provide local mapping for their areas.

Brianne Vally confirmed that she had not received a recent update on the Wraysbury Temporary Flood Defences proposals, so she would take this away as an action and update the Chairman, Councillor Larcombe and Mike Williams via email when she has an update.

v  Action – Brianne Vally to email an update on temporary flood defences for Wraysbury to the Chairman, Councillor Larcombe and Mike Williams.