To receive an update from the Environment Agency including

Ø  Eton Wick Waterways Group: proposed environmental enhancements Roundmoor Ditch.

Ø  Strategic Review of Charges: the Environment Agency is currently consulting on changes to its charging schemes (covering the majority of their regulated regimes). The consultation can be reviewed via the following link  https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/engagement/environmentagency-charging-proposals-fromapril2018

Ø  Prolonged dry weather update

Members noted the following main points of the Environment Agency (EA) update:

Ø  Eton Wick Waterways Group were proposing works on Roundmoor Ditch.

Ø  There had been a blanket discharge from Slough water treatment works so there was some discussion ongoing regarding that with Thames Water (TW), EA and other local parties.

Ø  Strategic review charges consultation was taking place and ended at the end of the week. The aim of the review was to ensure the charges were fair and transparent. The changes also looked at navigation licences and the changes would be implemented later on in 208.

Ø  With regards to dry weather; winter 2017/18 was the driest since 2010/11. The beginning of 2018 had been drier than usual with rivers responding as expected. Some areas were on drought status.

The Chairman queries if the charges review would include new charges or, if it would be raising the costs of current activities. The EA confirmed that there would could in an increase in charges depending on the type of activity. The EA added that mooring licences would not be covered by the review but, any works that related to flood risk activity would require a permit, which would incur a charge.

With regards to the discharge at Slough treatment works, the Environment Management Team were having a meeting with TW to establish if it was an accidental or intentional so there was no update at present. An update would be provided at the following meeting.

v  Action – Thames Water and the Environment Agency to bring update on the discharge from Slough water treatment works to the next meeting.

Parish Councillor Fiona Hewer stated there had been a flood alert for the Thames from Hurley to Cookham but, the alert was removed after a few hours. It was difficult to deal with by wardens and the community if there was another wet day and the flood alert was reinstated again. She requested an update. The Chairman stated it was a good thing the alerts were put in place as they came in three stages and the flood alert was a pre-warning of a flood warning. PCllr Hewer responded it made people ignore the alerts if they did not stay live long enough and wardens were stood down. The Chairman stated alerts should be meaningful so if alerts were short term, people could start to be complacent. The EA said they would take the comments back to the team and find out more information.

With regards to the ground water recharge, Brianne Vally said she needed to find out more information but, it was possible to go to the direct.gov.uk website and search for the groundwater recharge situation report.

Parish councillors wanted to know what provisions had been made to stop the sewage spill reaching the reservoirs to stop contaminants from reaching the Thames. Cyril Mitkov, Thames Water stated he needed to check on the provisions but, there were many thousands of checks carried out before water supply reached homes. 99.6% of tests carried out on the water confirmed the supply was safe and top quality in the Thames area. He added there was, however, a threshold during storms that if breached, would allow for discharge to be released into the Thames. But, the discharge was not the same as sewage being released into the river as the discharge would have been partially treated. It would not be raw sewage; it was still not ideal but, be diluted by large amounts of rain. The Chairman stated there were 4.6bn litres of sewage treated every day in the Thames region with some 5,000 pumping stations. With developers building more houses, there was a need for reassurance that the increase was adequately covered. Cyril Mitkoc responded one of the biggest issues for Thames Water was keeping up with demand. He stated it was their duty to work with developers and the EA and they were always looking at infrastructure and looking to make upgrades all the time.

The Chairman stated after the last floods, 3,500 homes were identified as in need of improvements to make them flood resilient. In 2017/18, 1,000 of those homes had been improved. Cyril Mitkov stated lots of modelling had been carried out and Thames Water wanted to work with homeowners to help prevent flooding to property.

Parish Councillors raised concerns as there had been a breach of water by the Maidenhead Road. Thames Water had been called out to fix it but, the pipework need to be looked at as residents knew about the bin it, don’t block it campaign but, plumbers that were being called out to properties were being told the pipes were not adequate. Councillor Saunders had reported the issue but it did not look like anything was being done. Cyril Mitkov stated Denise Kinsella had been looking into it as usually, it was down to blockages and not a lack of capacity. Simon Lavin, Principal Engineer (Flood Risk), suggested any issues should be reported to Thames Water in the first instance.

Parish Councillor Dick Scarff requested information on catchment workshops as he was concerned that work was being considered that could have an adverse effect on Cookham. Brianne Vally stated there had been a number of discussions with a number of organisations that would take place. The lower Thames catchment looked at environmental projects at Bisham Brook which was to make enhancements. She proposed to have workshop sessions to discuss the changes and what impact would be seen. However, the EA was not leading on it. Brianne added that flood advisors would not have any input as it was not part of their remit but, she would ask for clarification to be sure. Workshops would possibly take place in April 2018.

Dick Scarff wanted computer analysis of the Widbrook area. It had been promised for a long time but it had still not been received. Brianne said the Widbrook area was only a small part of the modelling. The deadline to update flood maps was March 2018.

Simon Lavin, Principal Engineer (Flood Risk), stated there were fundamental concerns with the modelling that was taking place in Bisham. There were potential benefits of increasing culverts in Widbrook. Brianne Vally stated any change in size would not make a difference and the EA would provide evidence of the outcome of the modelling. Members noted that parishioners received copies of flood maps but, they were not accurate and needed to be updated. The Principal Engineer (Flood Risk) stated he had been sent a letter from residents in Bisham which explained the level of flooding was less than that show on the maps. The maps showed flooding at half a metre higher than it actually was during the last flood event. Brianne said she had received a number of requests from residents and explained that the flood event outline was recorded in a different way. She had told residents that the EA was reviewing the process to validate the methods used. The Lower Thames modelling was ongoing so it would be possible to see the changes to the flood maps following the completion of that.

Parish Councillors stated that Lidors results for recording the flood outline were totally inaccurate. Brianne responded the process was being reviewd. The EA accepted people wanted to challenge them and they were saying the process would be reviewed. The EA wanted to provide the best possible evidence. PCllr Ian Thompson said Datchet Parish Council had very accurate flood maps from the flood event of 2014 and that the Lidor map was very inaccurate. The Parish Council had the correct information and he was happy to sit with the EA and look at the Lidor maps. He added he also had very detailed information on the 2003 floods in Datchet. Brianne explained that residents could raise flood map challenges and she was happy to explain the process and go through it with the Parish Councils.