Agenda item

City of York Council are working closely with the Environment Agency in the development of flood risk management schemes across the city. The Executive Member is asked to consider the updates detailed in the report and any supporting presentations, comment on their content and recommended actions.

Resolved:           (i)      That the update report and the information provided by the Environment Agency (EA) at the session be noted.

Reason:              To confirm that the Executive Member is updated on the progress of the flood risk management works programmes in York and is able to provide advice to ensure that wider links and opportunities are considered and built into the process.

                             (ii)      That information on the following be included in the next quarterly update:

·        scientific evidence detailing potential approaches for new telemetry, monitoring and forecasting that can be used to support catchment scale flood risk interventions (action 2 in Annex 2)

·        work being carried out to identify changes to the location of Silver Command in future flood events (action 31);

·        work being done by Category 2 Responders (the utilities) to ensure the recommendations in the York Flood Inquiry and the National Flood Resilience Review have been considered and auctioned;

·        information detailing the EA’s proposals for each flood cell across the city and the methodology used to identify these measures, to be considered alongside the programmes requested in the body of the report.

Reason:              To ensure that the update addresses issues raised by the Executive Member at the session.

The Executive Member considered a report that provided an update in relation to the York 5 Year Flood Plan and sought feedback on all content. 

Annex 1 to the report outlined work carried out by the Environment Agency (EA) since the last update in July. This had focused on planning and undertaking surveys for the first potential schemes, ensuring progress at the Foss Barrier remained on track, and further developing the Long Term Plan.  Annex 2 set out progress on each of the 91 actions arising from the York Flood Inquiry.

An officer from the EA was present to provide further information and respond to questions, along with the Council’s Flood Risk & Asset Manager and Emergency Planning Manager.

In response to questions and comments from the Executive Member, officers:

·        Outlined the reasons for the time being taken to investigate options for demountable defences at Clementhorpe, confirming that a written response, including details of plans for public engagement on the options, would be provided; information would also be made available via a newsletter, social media and a drop-in centre open 2 days per week.

·        Confirmed the existing flood defence procedures for the Clementhorpe area, which was not considered to be at high risk of flooding, though it was accepted that the overall frequency of severe flood events had increased in recent years.  [Further information on Clementhorpe is included in the annex to these minutes referred to in Minute 14 above]

·        Clarified the investment situation, explaining that the overall funding required would be determined as projects progressed and that a ‘consenting master plan’ was being developed, with a view to engaging as early as possible with stakeholders.

·        Agreed that the EA would liaise with the council to ensure all members were aware of survey and investigation work being carried out in their wards, as well as communicating this information to the public via the usual channels.

·        Outlined plans to recruit a council officer to deal with public engagement, linking to the community emergency plans and ‘Ready for Anything’ programme, and proposals to run a ‘walk-through’ exercise on 25 November.

·        Noted the Executive Member’s comments regarding the need for transparency at every stage and to ensure that information was accessible by collating it in one place, for example via links to the minutes of these decision sessions.  

The Executive Member thanked council officers for their speedy response to the flash flood in Fishergate on 23 August.  Officers reported that Yorkshire Water were looking into whether inadequate pipe sizes may have contributed to the flooding. A link to the Council’s plans for improvements to gulley cleaning was requested for the minutes and can be found here:  http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=4710

Resolved:           (i)      That the update report and the information provided by the Environment Agency (EA) at the session be noted.

Reason:              To confirm that the Executive Member is updated on the progress of the flood risk management works programmes in York and is able to provide advice to ensure that wider links and opportunities are considered and built into the process.

                             (ii)      That information on the following be included in the next quarterly update:

·        scientific evidence detailing potential approaches for new telemetry, monitoring and forecasting that can be used to support catchment scale flood risk interventions (action 2 in Annex 2)

·        work being carried out to identify changes to the location of Silver Command in future flood events (action 31);

·        work being done by Category 2 Responders (the utilities) to ensure the recommendations in the York Flood Inquiry and the National Flood Resilience Review have been considered and auctioned;

·        information detailing the EA’s proposals for each flood cell across the city and the methodology used to identify these measures, to be considered alongside the programmes requested in the body of the report.

Reason:              To ensure that the update addresses issues raised by the Executive Member at the session.