Agenda item

Purpose: To set out the activities of the West Berkshire Water Safety Partnership as agreed at the West Berkshire Council Executive meeting on the 15 July 2021.

Jon Winstanley, West Berkshire Service Director for Environment, introduced the Annual Report (Agenda Item 6) which had been brought to the JPPC at the request of West Berkshire Council’s Executive. This provided an opportunity to look at what was happening and to explore if this could also be adopted by Bracknell Forest Council.

Jon Winstanley said the group had come together following the very tragic incident that had occurred in Victoria Park in Newbury in which a young child fell into the canal and sadly passed away.

The report focused on water safety and what else the Council and emergency services could jointly do to reduce accidental death or injury as a result of taking part in activities in or near water. Initial work had focused around where the incident had taken place but the group had also looked at how best to utilise the combined activity and educational offerings to make the environment safer in relation to activities around water. The report summarised the work undertaken over the last year and outlined planned work for the coming year including a range of physical measures in and around Newbury as well as looking at where those could be rolled out in other parts of the District.

Councillor Graham Bridgman said he had spoken with Sean Murphy about the safety features that had been proposed across West Berkshire and whether there was an opportunity to install defibrillators on canal and river sides. Councillor Bridgman suggested this safety measure might also be of interest to Bracknell Forest. Jon Winstanley said he would take this point back to the Partnership for discussion before feeding back to the Committee with the response. 

Councillor Harrison asked for details of the physical and educational measures planned by the Water Safety Partnership. Mr Winstanley said in terms of physical measures, the Partnership and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service had created an incident database in order to identify hot spots. The first area of concentration was the canal through Newbury with colleagues from the Fire & Rescue Service and the Council’s Countryside Service who carried out an audit to identify where barriers could be erected, looked at throw ropes, access to the canal by boaters and generally looked at what physical safety measures could practicably be adopted. In terms of education, Mr Winstanley said the Fire & Rescue Service had a very comprehensive educational programme they took into schools which the Partnership intended to help them promote. In addition, the Partnership would target Water Safety Week and specific user groups that used the canal and who might be at risk of accidental injury in and around the area. Mr Winstanley said he would welcome representation from Bracknell Forest Council in the Partnership and would happily extend an invitation to them.

Councillor Rick Jones asked whether the scope of the work of the Partnership extended to all waterways flowing through the District, in particular the Thames tributaries. Mr Winstanley confirmed that the scope of the work did include all waterways, including the Thames, and would be supported by the involvement of the Environment Agency.

Sean Murphy added that there was a synergy in terms of some of the educational work and public engagement work between the two authorities in that the JPPC’s communications team had been doing a lot of work with the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service Assessor for community engagement events. Mr Murphy said if colleagues in Bracknell wished to engage with the Partnership it would be very transferable to bring some of those events to Bracknell. Councillor Harrison suggested that Officers in West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest Councils meet to discuss what would be involved if Bracknell joined the Partnership given there were a large number of bodies of water in Bracknell Forest.

RESOLVED that:

·         The Annual Report be noted.

·         Jon Winstanley would discuss with the Water Safety Partnership the potential to install defibrillators on canal and river sides before feeding back to the Committee with the response. 

·         Officers in West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest Councils would meet to discuss representation on the Partnership from Bracknell.