Wraysbury Parish Council
Open Letter from Mr Lawrence, leader of the Borough Council
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Wraysbury Parish Council Open Letter from Mr Lawrence, leader of the Borough Council |
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9 January 2003 Sir John Harman Chairman Environment Agency Millbank Tower 25th Floor 21-24 Millban1c London SWIP 4XL FLOODING IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD We are now in the process of dealing with the aftermath of recent flooding. As you are aware, various areas within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead were adversely affected by the flooding, and the area of Wraysbury was the eventual subject of a severe warning. Our initial analysis suggests that areas that have been the subject of flooding were not in your 1: 100 year Post Scheme floodplain. A large number of the residents within the Wraysbury area are now seeking the assistance of the Council in helping them return their homes and the local area back to normal. Viscount Mills, South East Regional Chairman, has advised Cookham residents today that an investigation will now take place within the Environment Agency. We would like the investigation to cover our whole area and include: i) why properties either previously not affected by flooding, or not previously affected to this extent, suffered in the way that they did; ii) how much the flood alleviation works completed in 2002 have contributed to the severe flooding experienced, and iii) why there was a significant delay in issuing a severe warning in respect of the Wraysbury area when the situation was quickly becoming more serious than suggested by the flood watch warning and when the more timely issue of a severe warning would have permitted better preventative measures to be taken. Such an investigation is clearly needed but we would advocate that this should be carried out by an expert independent of the Environment Agency. We would expect to be consulted over the terms of reference and who will conduct the revIew. We would also expect such an investigation to address other important issues such as those set out below, although an initial response to these issues is requested: a) What assistance is the Environment Agency willing and able to offer to homeowners whose properties were affected by the flooding both in terms of immediate relief, and to address the possible difficulties such owners will now face when attempting to sell or insure their properties in the future? b) Does the Environment Agency accept that it has inadequately modelled the affect of the flood alleviation works to areas downstream of Windsor to such an extent that no adequate steps were taken to protect those properties affected from flooding, and that therefore the Environment Agency is liable for the extent of the flooding that has occurred? c) What action is the Environment Agency proposing to take in respect of potential future flooding in the area? Given the urgency of this matter and the degree of public concern it would be very helpful to have a response to the issues raised within the next 7 days. It is intended that this letter will me made publicly available, including circulation to those residents affected by the flooding. cc Mrs T May MP Mr M Trend MP Viscount Mills 
Here is the reply
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Date: 20 January 2003 Councillor Lawrence Leader of the Council Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Cabinet Office, Town Hall St Ives Road Maidenhead SL61RF Dear Councillor Lawrence Our initial response to the three issues you raise is as follows: Thank You for your letter dated the 9th January 2003, Firstly, I think it is important to recognise that We have recently experienced some of the highest flood levels since 1947 and indeed in some places recorded levels were the third highest since records began. Without doubt, if the Jubilee River had not been built, probably four times the number of properties would have been flooded. I think it is somewhat premature to suggest an independent investigation of the recent flooding events given that the Environment Agency has not yet had the chance to complete gathering and to present even the first facts about what actually happened during the recent flood event. As you are aware, an initial presentation of these facts wil1 be given to all interested parties at the all day surgery to be held at the Hythe Centre, Thorpe Road, Egham next Thursday 23rd January. FLOODING IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD What assistance is the Environment Agency willing and able to offer to homeowners whose properties were affected by the flooding both in terms of immediate relief, and to address the possible difficulties such owners will now face when attempting to sell or insure their properties in the future? Firstly, it is not the role of the Environment Agency to provide cleanup and other assistance following a flood. As the Local Authority, you will recognise that you also have a major role in this respect. For our part. however, we have already distributed to all known affected properties a copy of our booklet "After a Flood" offering practical advice about what to do to restore your home after flooding. We can follow this up at our surgery with further advice regarding individual cases. We will also continue to provide a comprehensive flood warning and flood risk management service. However, in terms of selling and insuring properties in the future this is a business decision for individual insurance companies and currently the subject of discussions between Government and the insurance industry. For our part, we arc providing the Association of British Insurers with information on current and planned flood defences, to allow them to make the best assessment of risk. Environment Agency Does the Environment Agency accept that it has inadequately modelled the effect of the flood alleviation works to areas downstream of Windsor to such an extent that no adequate steps were taken to protect those properties affected from flooding, and that therefore the Environment Agency is liable for the extent of the flooding that has occurred? No, the Agency does not accept this. You may recall that, at the Public Inquiry about whether this scheme should go ahead, your own Council, along with the Planning Inspector, both used independent consultants to scrutinise the modelling work. All 3 parties, each using separate experts, were satisfied that there would be no significant increase in flood levels downstream of Maidenhead as a result of these alleviation works. From our initial scrutiny of the data available, we can find no scientific evidence to support the theory that the operation of the Jubilee River caused an increase in flood levels downstream. We are currently re-running an updated hydraulic model used to determine the impact of the Jubilee River on downstream levels using 2003 flood data. The engineering consultants, Gibb Ltd, will run the model with and without the flood alleviation channel to determine what difference if any it would have made on downstream flooding. Any initial findings will be presented at the surgery on the 23rd January and when we have final results we will be happy to share these with your Council and more widely. I am sure that you are conscious that as the model predicted, the operation of this flood alleviation scheme successfully protected thousands of homes within your Borough. What action is the Environment Agency proposing to take in respect of potential future flooding in the area? Given the increased risk of flooding this winter due to the saturated ground conditions, we are already urgently reviewing short-term actions should flooding re-occur. Such measures include: encouraging residents to take up the flood warning service direct to their own telephone through our Automatic Voice Messaging system; providing advice to those at risk as to what further practical measures they might take to protect themselves and their property; ensuring that our Floodline service does provide accurate and timely advice in the event of further flooding. Once we have evaluated the full impact of this flood, we will then move rapidly to examine the case and options for further flood protection measures. We will also continue to scrutinise and comment on all planning applications submitted to your Council and will maintain our policy of objecting to all developments that could lead to an increased risk of flooding. I understand your Council officials as well as representatives from the Emergency Services and Thames Water have been invited to participate in the surgery next week. I believe their attendance is important so that the public can understand the various responsibilities of all our organisations to work together to warn and protect the public from flooding and for dealing with these events. I also hope you and your councillors and the public will be able to attend and judge for yourselves the facts as to why and how this flooding occurred. Yours sincerely SIR JOHN HARMAN CHAIRMAN | |||||||||||
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