Agenda item

The Service Manager Economic Growth and Property introduced this item and explained that it followed on from discussions at the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group in September 2022 where information had been provided by Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency. She said that Members had expressed interest in receiving an update from Nottinghamshire County Council in their role as flood authority and as such Mr Smith was attending this meeting. Representatives from Severn Trent and the Environment Agency had also been invited to attend but unfortunately Environment Agency representatives had had to send their apologies due to commitments with the current flooding. They had said that they would be happy to attend a future meeting instead. Severn Trent may not have capacity to attend.

Mr Smith from Nottinghamshire County Council presented an update to the Group about the County Council’s role as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA).

Mr Smith provided information about Storm Babet and said that approximately 1200 properties had been internally flooded, spread across 79 areas, with 28 properties being in Rushcliffe. He said that over 100 roads had been closed making access to affected areas difficult.

Mr Smith explained that the role of the LLFA was to coordinate flood risk management across Nottinghamshire, coordinating with the various agencies involved, including Severn Trent Water, the Environment Agency and town and parish councils. He said that the LLFA managed surface water only and was a statutory consultee on surface water only to the local planning authorities and the County planning authority for major applications. He said that it could not comment on issues such as river or sewer flooding.

Mr Smith informed the Group that the County Council maintained a register of assets that had a critical impact on flood risk in the County, such as culverts, to ensure that they were adequately maintained and it issued land drainage consents and compliance checks. He said that the County Council published and developed a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and Action Plan and that it worked with communities to raise awareness of flood risk and support them in how to become more flood resilient. The County Council also delivered the Capital and Revenue Flood Risk Management Schemes programme

The LLFA was required to carry out a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment Review (PFRA) every six years and as part of the recent review it had rewritten documentation to bring it up to date, in line with current policies and to include analysis of potential future flood impacts and information about who to contact for advice about various concerns. The documentation was published in July 2023.

Mr Smith said that the County Council owned a suite of four drones for which it had seven qualified pilots and that it used them for a variety of work including to help with flood surveillance work and inspecting assets He said that the County Council would be happy to share these resources with partner agencies where possible.

In relation to property flood resilience, Mr Smith said that the County Council had funded flood resilience solutions such as flood resistance doors and gates. To date 55 properties had had bespoke solutions installed and it hoped that 100 more would be protected in the future programme of works.

Mr Smith said that LLFA managed the Community Flood Signage Scheme which gave it the power to close roads during flood events to help reduce impacts from bow waves caused by vehicles driving through flood water. He said that there were currently 18 active schemes.

The County Council were involved with providing education sessions for schools across the County, which were targeted at years 4 and 5 and comprised hands on experiments to help raise awareness and knowledge about climate change and flooding.

The Group were informed that the County Council had bid for funding to implement natural flood management techniques in Cropwell Butler and had recently received funding to work with land owners in Gotham to implement further flood management measures.

Councillor Grocock asked whether the County Council team was linked in with the D2N2 Careers Hub and Mr Smith said that they would explore this suggestion.

Councillor Grocock referred to communication about the Community Flood Signage Scheme and Mr Smith confirmed that emails had been sent to town and parish councils with information about the scheme, that drop in sessions had been held by the team and that it was also working with County Councillors in sharing information.

Mr Smith asked Members to email the team if they were aware of any concerns or any areas which benefit from road closures or any schools that would like to receive an education session at flood.team@nottscc.gov.uk. The Service Manager Economic Growth and Property agreed to circulate Mr Smith’s presentation to the Group with parish council Clerks.

The Chair noted the difficulty in identifying the different reasons for much flooding and Mr Smith suggested that people email the team about specific concerns for advice and support.

Councillor way referred to SUDS on privately managed estates. Mr Smith said that the LLFA did not currently have any authority in this matter but said that the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 contained a Schedule (3) which would make local authorities responsible for adopting SUDS in new developments, and whilst this Schedule had not been enacted as yet there were proposals for it to be enacted in the future.

Councillor Butler referred to flooding from water coming off fields and asked about influence on land owners. Mr Smith explained that there were some powers contained within the Land Drainage Act which allowed the risk management authority to serve notice if a land owner was not allowing free movement of water on their assets, however the preferred practice was to work with land owners in the first instance.

The Chair referred to recommendation b, in relation to Severn Trent and the Environment Agency being unable to attend. The Service Manager Economic Growth and Property noted suggestions from Members of the Group, including promoting flood management work with parish councils and working with the Careers Hubs that were outcomes from these discussions and said that representatives from the two agencies could be invited to attend the next Group meeting in March.

It was RESOLVED that the Growth and Development Scrutiny Group:

a)             Review the scrutiny matrix and notes of the previous meeting (21 September 2022) and ask questions of the expert witnesses

b)             Identify if there are any areas where further work or further updates are required e.g., communications or engagement between organisations.