Agenda item

This report provides an update regarding progress on the York Five Year Flood Plan, including work carried out by the Environment Agency, since the last update in September.

Resolved:  (i)      That the update report, and the evidence presented by the Environment Agency (EA) in 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 the EA be requested to speed up the timetable for development of flood defences in the city, in particular the defences affected by the increased capacity of the Foss Barrier in the New Walk and Clementhorpe areas.

                   (iii)     That officers be requested to write to businesses in the area to investigate any problems relating to insurance following the 2015 Boxing Day floods.

                   (iv)    That  the Executive Member will:

a)   Write to the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police to follow up work on the location of Silver Command in the case of a major river flood, and the protocol relating to the maximum pumping of the Foss Barrier and;

b)   Write to Yorkshire Water requesting confirmation that the investment needed for new infrastructure to support flood defences is included in the submission to OFWAT for the next price review period (PR19).

(v)     That City of York Council (CYC) Officers be requested to review how the council can help with the Yorkshire Water awareness-raising campaigns to prevent inappropriate materials from being flushed into the sewer network.

(vi)    That the CYC Communications team be requested to look at helping the EA to include on the council website details relating to public meetings, and updates on the programmes of work for the flood cells.

(vii)    That officers be requested to follow up the need for additional telemetry in the catchment areas to enable measurement of natural flood management and other schemes to reduce the height of peak flood events in the city.

(viii)   That the next quarterly flood plan update report include an assessment of the sign-up to Floodline in the city.

(ix)    That regular updates from the Resilience Officer be brought to future meetings with the quarterly flood plan update reports.

(x)     That details of the ‘Flood Storage Areas Upstream of York’ be provided to the Executive Member at the next decision session.

Reason:     To provide the feedback requested, and ensure that the Flood Plan remains on track and that residents and businesses are kept informed of progress at each stage.

The Executive Member considered a report which provided an update on progress against 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 on 4 September, providing further detail on progress towards delivery of new or upgraded flood defences in the city.  This included a review of high level options for each of the 29 ‘flood cells’ within York and the approach taken to prioritise measures across these cells.

An officer from the EA was in attendance, along with the Council’s Flood Risk & Asset Manager.  The EA officer gave a short presentation, the slides from which are annexed to these minutes.

In addition to the information supplied in the report, annex and presentation, Officers confirmed that:

·        Applications for the Emergency Planning Assistant role (paragraph 15) had been shortlisted, and interviews were scheduled for next week.

·        The EA’s response to the impact of climate change (Annex 1 / presentation) was to take a staged and adaptable approach, rather than maximising defences from the start.  

·        With regard to public engagement (Annex 1), the EA had arranged further meetings with residents and the Hub building would soon be open on 3 days per week, for people to view displays on the flood plan and speak to members of staff.

Resolved:  (i)      That the update report, and the evidence presented by the Environment Agency (EA) in 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 the EA be requested to speed up the timetable for development of flood defences in the city, in particular the defences affected by the increased capacity of the Foss Barrier in the New Walk and Clementhorpe areas.

                   (iii)     That officers be requested to write to businesses in the area to investigate any problems relating to insurance following the 2015 Boxing Day floods.

                   (iv)    That  the Executive Member:

a)   Write to the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police to follow up work on the location of Silver Command in the case of a major river flood, and the protocol relating to the maximum pumping of the Foss Barrier and;

b)   Write to Yorkshire Water requesting confirmation that the investment needed for new infrastructure to support flood defences is included in the submission to OFWAT for the next price review period (PR19).

(v)     That City of York Council (CYC) Officers be requested to review how the council can help with the Yorkshire Water awareness-raising campaigns to prevent inappropriate materials from being flushed into the sewer network.

(vi)    That the CYC Communications team be requested to look at helping the EA to include on the council website details relating to public meetings, and updates on the programmes of work for the flood cells.

(vii)    That officers be requested to follow up the need for additional telemetry in the catchment areas to enable measurement of natural flood management and other schemes to reduce the height of peak flood events in the city.

(viii)   That the next quarterly flood plan update report include an assessment of the sign-up to Floodline in the city.

(ix)    That regular updates from the Resilience Officer be brought to future meetings with the quarterly flood plan update reports.

(x)     That details of the ‘Flood Storage Areas Upstream of York’ be provided to the Executive Member at the next decision session.

Reason:     To provide the feedback requested, and ensure that the Flood Plan remains on track and that residents and businesses are kept informed of progress at each stage.