To receive the above verbal update.

Councillor Brar asked if the Environment Agency (EA) could do a site visit to Lightlands Lane, Cookham as residents were concern with the nearby culvert. Brianne Vally, Environment Agency, stated a visit could be arranged if the exact location was provided. Ben Crampin, Flood Risk Manager, added that an email response was written for the residents, and stated he would forward this to Brianne Vally before they make the site visit.

Councillor Brar then requested for a meeting between EA and the residents at Lightlands Lane, Cookham. Brianne Vally stated she would look into this.

ACTION: Brianne Vally to arrange a meeting between EA and Lightlands Lane, Cookham residents over concerns with the culvert.

Councillor Brar asked Brianne Vally for an update on the flood walls in Cookham. Brianne Vally informed that EA had replaced some flood warning signs in Cookham and Bisham. She added that she liaised with contractors to enquire about a missing flood warning sign on Cookham High Street. Brianne Vally confirmed the sign was assumed lost or stolen. She also mentioned she will share the infographics and details for Cookham Parish Council to procure a replacement sign should they be interested.  She then stated that a letter detailing maintenance of the flooding signs had been sent out to Cookham Parish Council a few months prior. Councillor Brar asked for this letter to be sent to her. Brianne Vally agreed to do so.

ACTION: Brianne Vally to forward the letter regarding maintenance of flood warning signs in Cookham to Councillor Brar.

Starting off the EA update with the situation of the catchment, Brianne Vallyinformed that the Thames catchment area had received 121% of the average rainfall for October. As a result, natural river flows had increased across the Thames catchment. In spite of this, the Borough was still in a status of drought as declared in August 2022 and was expected to continue to be in a drought status into 2023. Brianne Vally mentioned that more information regarding the water situation in local areas was on gov.uk website.

Brianne Vally then moved onto ongoing maintenance works in the local areas. Most of the works were focused on the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme and the wider assets which form part of the scheme. Maintenance works were being done on the A4 Bath Road retaining walls along the Jubilee River Channel and were close to being completed.

On the North Maidenhead Bund between Cookham and Maidenhead, EA were investigating and collecting some evidence required to carry out some maintenance works and repairs. In Cookham, the bunds around the access pass had been repairs. In addition, maintenance work began around the Cookham flood walls, including in the Riverdene area, with focus on the mortar joints and the joint seals.

Brianne Vally then explained that a program of maintenance was about to take place at Taplow, which was the start of the Jubilee River, where a gantry was being installed to facilitate future maintenance.

Brianne Vally then gave a presentation on an update on the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures. Relative to the EA Project Lifecycle, EA were at the ‘Initial Assessment’ phase and proceeding towards the Strategic Outline case.

EA were working with its framework consultants, Jacobs, to develop the Strategic Outline Case (SOC). SOC was intended to justify that there may be viable alternative options to reduce flood risk from Datchet to Hythe End and that these are worthwhile investigating further. EA sought to make a case to attract funding in order to explore those alternative options.

EA had also taken on board the comments received in response to its letter from 9^th February 2021 and had subsequently established a long list of options.

Since the last meeting in June 2022, EA had launched the DHEFIM website on gov.uk, a go-to place for residents to find information, and this has resulted in some useful feedback from residents.

Brianne Vally then presented a program summary up to the end of the SOC. EA were developing a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) document which was expected to be completed by the ends of December 2022. Whilst the approximate dates for each activity had changed, the date for signing off the SOC had not changed and was still expected to be March 2023. Some contingencies within the program had been formulated to prevent any delays.

Brianne Vally then provided an update from the River Thames Scheme (RTS) Team. She explained that the River Thames Scheme had started a non-statutory consultation from 8^th November to 20^th December 2022. Brianne Vally stated she and other members from the Datchet to Hythe End Flood Improvement Measures team will be attending an RTS consultation event at Wraysbury Village Hall on 25^th November from 1:00pm to 7:00pm.

Brianne Vally stated that the River Thames Scheme would be providing a Councillor briefing session on 7^th November 2022 with the River Thames Scheme Team circulating further details in the near future. She then notified that further questions could be sent to the River Thames Scheme Team’s email address (RTS@environment-agency.gov.uk) or searched on their website (riverthamesscheme.org.uk).

On the Flood Risk Management Plan, Brianne Vally stated that the final plans were to be published in early-December 2022. She explained that the Flood Risk Management Plan provided information on how flood risk was managed in flood risk areas (e.g., Windsor, Datchet and Wraysbury). The plans were updated following feedback from the consultations which ran from 2021.

Brianne Vally then reported that the central government had been working on an emergency alert system which was scheduled to launch in Autumn 2022. This would allow notifications to be sent to mobile devices highlighting a risk of life. EA would be using this new system to emergency alerts to residents in flood risk areas.

Brianne Vally then showed a short video showcasing the emergency alert system.

The Chairman asked if the gantry over Jubilee River was over the 3 gates in Taplow. Brianne Vally confirmed this, adding that it would be used to enable maintenance of those gates.

The Chairman then asked about the steel fencing installed around Slough Weir. Brianne Vally speculated that there was investment into a public safety risk assessment based of the key sites based on some tragic deaths which took place.

The Chairman then asked if Brianne Vally had a response regarding the resolution passed by RBWM Council about the reinstating of dredging. Brianne Vally replied that EA had been notified by Ben Crampin to respond to the Council’s motion.

Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer asked the Chairman if Surrey should be involved with the financial implications of the Datchet to Hythe’s End Scheme due to its close proximity to the River Thames and its diversions. Brianne Vally responded that EA were adjusting the study area. If it became appropriate, EA would look into broadening the partnership funding.

Regarding the scoping document about the River Thames Scheme, the Chairman asked if Brianne Vally knew about a section which stated that water companies would pump water from the River Thames into the reservoir when the water levels in the river rose. Brianne Vally replied that she would explore this further.

Councillor Rayner asked if the consultation on 25^th November at Wraysbury Village Hall could be shared with the RBWM Comms Team to promote it as widely as possible. Brianne Vally replied that EA were meeting with a member of the River Thames Comms and Engagement Team the following day.

Parish Councillor Ian Thompson explained that he had recently presented the effects of the old Channel One Section on large areas of Surrey (as well as Egham and Chertsey). He stated these implications undermined section 2 of the River Thames Scheme. On this basis, Parish Councillor Ian Thompson then asked if there was an invite to the residents of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury to the consultation in Wraysbury on 25^th November. Brianne Vally replied that EA could look at the report that Parish Councillor Ian Thompson was referring to. She then stated residents who would have benefitted from the River Thames Scheme Channel Section One were invited to attend. She added that there were drop-ins across the area where the River Thames Scheme Team could be approached, such as in Egham, but the Datchet to Hythe End Food Improvement Measures Project Team would only attend the Wraysbury drop-in.

Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer asked for an update on microplastics being filtered out from river water for drinking water. Denise Kinsella, Thames Water, replied that she had passed this issue onto Thames Water and then sent a couple of emails to Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer. Referring to a study carried out in 2018 or 2019, which suggested that the situation with microplastics became much worse, Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer asked if there was an update surrounding this. Denise Kinsella stated that Parish Councillor Malcolm Beer could ask his questions on the EIR request that was sent to him via email.

The forum noted the update.