Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of Tonbridge Forum held on Monday 25 November 2013

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2013 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Multi agency discussion on recent flooding in and around Tonbridge with representatives from:

-       Environment Agency

-       Kent County Council

-       Kent Police

-       Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

-       Southern Water – to be confirmed

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced representatives from the Environment Agency, Southern Water Services, Kent County Council Highways and Transportation and Kent Police, together with Sir John Stanley MP and officers from Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.

It was explained that the meeting would focus on the multi-agency response to the recent flooding in and around Tonbridge.  Members were advised of the Borough Council’s commitment to identify practical incidents from those events and, in particular, to learn from them. The process of finding answers had already started with the Borough Council coordinating responses following comments at other local residents meetings.

The participation and attendance of the other agencies highlighted the multi-agency nature of addressing flooding and demonstrated the commitment to constructively move forward together to make practical progress.

Members received a presentation from the Environmental Agency (EA) Area Manager (Mr Andrew Pearce) and his technical adviser (Mr Neil Gunn) which set out the context of the flooding event, the role and responsibilities of the EA and the procedures involved in co-ordinating a multi-agency response.  It was reported that there appeared to be three main contributing factors to the flooding:

(1)  Intense rainfall

(2)  Overflowing drains

(3)  River Medway bursting its banks

The EA apologised to the communities affected by flooding and promised to identify problems and potential solutions to prevent future occurrences by meeting with local residents.  In addition, the EA committed to closer engagement with communities by hosting a number of small surgeries and working groups.  Residents were encouraged to participate to enable as much information as possible to be collected, which in turn would inform potential answers. 

Actions already identified by the EA included:

-        A river bank survey

-        Sandbag wall along Avebury Avenue/Barden Road

-        Trialling of new warning and informing procedure

-        Updated flood warning procedure with the threshold changed with immediate effect

-        Revised procedure for operation of the flood storage area to account for blockages and loss of storage/capacity

With regard to the new warning and informing procedure it was explained that warnings would only be issued in daylight hours if possible and the anticipated list would be shared with co-ordinating agencies who would then attempt to resource communication to residents.  It was reported that the warning system was for river flooding only and not for surface water or foul flooding.

Short term measures identified for action by the EA included:

-        Setting up a technical group.  Residents and community groups/representatives were encouraged to participate.

-        Removing trees

-        Stabilising Buleys Weir

-        Reinstating Avebury/Barden high ground

-        Investigating the potential and demonstrating value for money for a scheme at Hildenborough

-        Publishing a flood report highlighting lessons learnt from recent events.

Medium term measures identified for action by the EA included:

-        A flood warden scheme:  This would improve understanding of local flood risk and communication

-        Increase capacity in the Leigh Flood Storage Area

-        Seeking funding from DEFRA for Capital Schemes, such as Hildenborough

Tonbridge and  ...  view the full minutes text for item TF 14/2

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.

These were made available for collection at the end of the meeting.