Agenda and minutes

Purpose: To undertake a review into the effects of severe weather that affected residents in West Berkshire during the winter of 2013/2014 and the response provided by communities.

Councillor Brain Bedwell welcomed Members to the third meeting of the Severe Weather review. Members were advised that the meeting scheduled for 15^th September 2014 would be cancelled in order that Officers could collate the notes from previous meetings and form a report ahead for Members to consider. David Lowe advised that the draft report would be issued to Members for consideration on 23^rd September and subsequently discussed at the meeting on 30^th September 2014.

Councillor Bedwell welcomed Carolyn Richardson and Stuart Clark to the review and asked that them to provide information on:

·         The community self-help model

·         Public understanding

·         The debrief survey results

Carolyn Richardson explained that the community self-help model relied on community spirit to enhance resilience. The model had been developed since the flood event in 2007, when agency resources had been limited and collaborative working with residents was crucial. The Council provided Emergency Plan templates to Parish Councils and specific areas where risks had been identified. The template was developed to aid community resilience planning. Carolyn Richardson also held workshops if additional advice was required.

The Commission heard that strengthening community resilience was a slow process. Often the most engaged communities were those who had experienced an incident in the past and therefore realised the potential for reoccurrences. Community planning was beneficial as often the local residents had the local knowledge to identify risks and consider solutions.

In order to increase community engagement and enhance resilience planning agencies visited communities direct and helped establish Flood Wardens who acted as the main point of contact for their respective communities.

Carolyn Richardson explained that flood wardens were often relied upon by agencies and communities. As it was most often the case that the flood warden volunteers were also members of the Parish Council or of other volunteer groups, their availability was sometimes restricted. More significantly, flood wardens sometimes suffered from their properties flooding, which caused them immense personal pressure and stress.

Overall the community self-help model was successful if agencies and communities worked together. This had evident where Flood Forums had been established. Carolyn Richardson advised that Flood Forums had been set up in the Lambourn Valley, Pang Valley, Newbury, Thatcham, Streatley and Purley. With the input from agencies, the forums produced and then monitored action plans to address flood risk.

In general, rural communities were more engaged with their local Flood Forum than were urban communities and consequently had a better understanding of therespective roles and responsibilities of home owners and agencies. Council survey results had highlighted that well established flood forums provided more focused suggestions for future flood responses. They had a higher portion of residents registered to receive the Environment Agency flood line alerts and warnings.

It was still apparent that public understanding varied across communities. Carolyn Richardson referred to the local residents’ survey results which concluded that the majority of respondents believed it was the responsibility of the Council to protect household properties. It appeared that residents were aware of potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.