To receive the above verbal update.

Sue Fox, Principal Flood Risk Management Officer, said that there had been a significant amount of rainfall recently and there was a focus on areas which had experienced surface water flooding, where it had highlighted some areas where capacity was overwhelmed. As had been mentioned in the Environment Agency update, the flood risk management plan consultation would be launched soon and there were two areas that had been identified in the borough, one in Maidenhead and one in Windsor. The borough would be putting a response together to the Basin Valley Plan. Sue Fox said that the River Thames infrastructure project press release had been distributed last week and asked that if any members had any thoughts to let her know. The Environment Agency had released modelling so that RBWM could assess the wider impact on local measures. RBWM had submitted some bids into the Environment Agency’s refresh programme which would allow the council to understand how the catchments worked and what measures were needed. Highway drainage work was being prioritised but it had been noted that some issues when cleaning gullies had not been sorted so it was important that these were reported to Thames Water. The scheme in Meadow Way was now complete and should be running, but if there were any issues spotted residents were encouraged to use the ‘Report It’ tool. Cleaning would take place on the Safeway’s which should alleviate any wet spots which were caused by a lack of capacity.

For the flooding on Moneyrow Green, as properties had been flooded a draft section 19 investigation report had been prepared which would be shared with partners for review. The council was working with Thames Water and the Environment Agency to solve issues with flooding in this area. There was also flooding in Fifield in June, the council had been cleaning the highway drains in this area as a result.

Sue Fox was undertaking a refresh of the RBWM webpage and asked if anyone on the group had any ideas on what should be included to drop her an email.

Martin Coker said that the password on the website did not work. He was advised to contact the Customer Services team if he was having any technical difficulties accessing any part of the RBWM website.

Councillor Brar asked why Cookham and Bisham were not part of the flood scheme.

Sue Fox explained that channel one was designed to protect the lower section of the Thames, in Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury.

The Chairman said that funding had already been provided for this scheme but there was general flooding funding available for the whole borough. If any areas needed to be looked at, RBWM could investigate.

Claire Taylor thanked RBWM for their work on Eton Wick Road on sorting out issues with standing water.

Councillor Baldwin asked why there was no written report for the RBWM update. He suggested that the information that had been provided should be available as a physical report in the agenda pack so that it could be easily distributed.

The Chairman said that the Flood Liaison Group was not a formal meeting and therefore written reports were not a requirement. He said that Sue Fox had asked for suggestions for the website and Councillor Baldwin could suggest that appropriate documents be made available there.

Dick Scarff asked if the outlets of the balancing pond in Cookham Dean would be added to the gully cleaning and maintenance programme.

Sue Fox asked Dick Scarff to send her the details of the location and she would look into it.

ACTION – Dick Scarff to send Sue Fox the location of the balancing pond in Cookham Dean.

Councillor Coppinger asked if there was any update on the work on the polo fields.

Janet Crame said that physical reports would be useful to have so that information could be distributed easily.

The Chairman said that he could discuss the idea with officers to see if it was feasible.

Sue Fox said that the capital programme had been scrutinised and passed as part of the Budget. She was happy to discuss with the Chairman and see what could be done for future meetings.

Bruce McArthur asked if there had been any further work on polo fields as flooding was becoming a problem. He felt that RBWM was not using the powers available to them in regard to planning applications being built on areas with high flood risk. He suggested that there should be more done to make sure that applications were only built on appropriate land.

The Chairman suggested that these comments could be emailed to Sue Fox so that she could consider them.

Sue Fox said that the Rolls Lane application was dealt with under different powers. A bid had been put in for the catchments and this would involve engagement work with all stakeholders in the area.