Agenda item

(Director of Planning and Economic Development) To consider the attached report.

The Panel received a report regarding the Environment Agency Consultation on Managing Flood Risk in the River Roding Catchment from Mr J Preston, Director of Planning and Economic Development. In attendance at the meeting on behalf of the Environment Agency were the following officers; T Chinn, G Cowell, D Gor and P Nicholson.

The Environment Agency (EA) was seeking opinion on its recommendations for managing flood risk in the River Roding catchment differently. The consultation initially ran from July to 26 September 2011. Flooding was a natural process that could not be entirely controlled or prevented, the Roding catchment having a long history of flooding, the most recent being in 2000 when more than 300 properties were affected in the Woodford area.

The following parishes in the Roding catchment could be affected by the EA proposals:

Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, Fyfield, High Ongar, Lambourne, Loughton, Ongar, Stapleford Abbotts, Stanford Rivers, Stapleford Tawney, Theydon Bois, Theydon Garnon, Theydon Mount and Willingale

Environment Agency Proposals

There were more than 2,000 residential and commercial properties potentially at risk in the southern part of the catchment. However, the EA’s proposals would lead to 15 properties in the district being at greater risk of flooding. The EA justified this on the following basis:

(a)        the financial cost of continuing maintenance of the river was greater than repairing the damage caused by flooding; and

(b)               Slowing the water flow in the upper reaches of the catchment would reduce the risk of flooding to properties in the lower catchment, therefore a small number of properties were negatively affected to benefit the majority.

Proposals Affecting the Epping Forest District

The actual proposals which had direct relevance for the district were as follows:

(i)                  Withdrawal of all maintenance of the Roding from its entry into the district at Berners Roding to its exit into the London Borough of Redbridge at Buckhurst Hill;

(ii)                Loughton and Cripsey Brooks would continue to be maintained (river channel and flood defences) to the current standard of protection;

(iii)               Creation of a large Flood Storage Area (FSA) near Shonks Mill (south west of Ongar) by 2020 designed to deal with a 1 in 200 year flood event;

(iv)              Construction of an earth embankment approximately 700m long across the floodplain adjacent to Shonks Mill Road; and

(v)                The EA hoped that material to build the embankment could be sourced from excavation works for surface run off areas in Woodford but this implied lorry movements along the A113 through Chigwell, Abridge and Passingford Bridge to the Shonks Mill. The EA noted that the design was not yet finalised, therefore lorry movements were not yet known.

The EA maintained that some properties in rural parts of the catchments would experience little change in flood risk, however, a small number of properties, especially in the northern part of the catchment, would remain at high risk of flooding, The EA intended to notify all of these property owners of the risk and work with the property owners, identifying ways of reducing or managing the risk

Implications for Epping Forest District Council

The EA hoped that some property or land owners would take responsibility for maintaining local flood defences. District Council officers believed that the EA should make appropriate financial contributions to help the owners affected by reduction in maintenance of the river.

An effect of terminating maintenance on the river would be the increase of vegetation along its banks and the build up of silt. This would lead to the blocking of the discharge point of an ordinary watercourse and localised flooding. The District Council would need to increase its monitoring and enforcement activities. The District Council was riparian landowner for approximately two miles of river along the Roding Valley Recreation Area between Debden and Buckhurst Hill and with all maintenance assistance from the EA terminated, there would be an increased cost to the Council. There were 1,000 km of ditches within the district, and additional work in the Roding area would be difficult for officers to maintain. It was acknowledged by members following the comments by the EA representatives that the District Council did not necessarily have to maintain the river in these areas. However it was likely that the authority would undertake this task.

Members expressed concern about the welfare of river wildlife as a result of de-silting. There was concern from the members present, that ending maintenance on the river would leave residents vulnerable to flooding. They felt that the EA’s support for residents would fall short of their needs.

Response Deadline

The Environment Agency representatives indicated that they were willing to extend the deadline for comments on consultation, although no new deadline date was set. Members requested that a new report should be submitted to either this Panel or the Safer, Cleaner, Greener Scrutiny Standing Panel when a detailed response to the consultation had been compiled.

RECOMMENDED:

(1)        That the District Council objects to the proposed flood risk strategy, as there is insufficient detail to show and assess the potentially short and longer term detrimental effects, in terms of flood risk for the following:

(a)        the residents within Epping Forest District Council, adjacent to the floodplain;

(b)        individual properties and areas of land, including land owned by the council;

(c)        flood zones and hence future development opportunities; and

(d)               ordinary watercourses within the district.

(2)        That, subject to further discussion between officers of the Council and officers of the Environment Agency, a further report be submitted to the next meeting of this Panel on a more detailed response or, as an alternative to the Safer, Cleaner, Greener Scrutiny Standing Panel on 11 October 2011 and, if necessary the urgency procedure approved under Minute 70 of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 24 January 2011 be used thereafter to submit the Council’s representations to the EA;

(3)        That a copy of the Panel’s recommendations is made available to Town and Parish Councils, and

(4)        That consideration be given to including within the Council’s response to the Environment Agency a request that urgent consideration to compensating and giving assistance to those householders who will be more at risk of flooding as a result of the Agency’s proposals.