APPENDIX A

Doncaster Scrutiny Committee

Yorkshire Area briefing note: January 2009

Introduction The purpose of this briefing note is to update the Scrutiny Committee on the works undertaken since the flooding of summer 20007. We wish to support the future wealth of through an excellent environment and a better place to live for its people

Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and Area Agreements (LAAs) We are continuing to support all four South Yorkshire LSPs particularly in terms of:  Reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Sharing our own internal environment policies, performance and carbon reduction plans as best practice. Networking across LSPs in Yorkshire and sharing research outputs. Regulating major industrial sources of emissions.  Adapting to climate change. Our focus here is advising our partners about flood risk management, how to protect the natural environment in a changing climate and preparing for drought.

Regeneration Opportunities The river corridors provide an important opportunity for us to work in partnership with local authorities and developers. The Centenary Riverside flood protection scheme in is an example of combining civil engineering works with a new local amenity and open space whilst supporting regeneration in Rotherham. We are looking to provide advice and where possible work in partnership with developers and local authorities to grasp similar opportunities along the corridors of the Rivers Don and Dearne. Our partnership project in the Dearne Valley is another example of us working to reconnect local people to their environment and realising it as an asset.

Interreg / MARE catchment wide bid Rotherham and officers led the bid for funds with and as partners and the EA as a learning partner. This bid was successful and the funds will be used to consider flooding across the catchment from all sources. The project has two elements of note . Firstly, demonstration projects in Sheffield / Rotherham urban centres. Secondly, the development of a Don Catchment wide Action Alliance seeking joint working to reduce flood risk.

Flood Risk Management CFMPs - These have been signed off by our Regional Director, Toby Willison and summary reports are currently being prepared. These will be posted on the website in the spring. The full document will be available on request. The summary documents set out the policy direction for each sub area. We will work with local authorities to develop more detailed action plans (LAA No. 189).

Business Resilience - Robin Bailey is our business resilience advisor (Mobile No. 07768 006410). He has visited many of the larger businesses to offer advice, but is finding it more difficult to engage small and medium enterprises. We held open session at Sheffield, Leeds and Hull Cambers of Commerce. We have also visited other Chambers to plan future events.

Maintenance Activities - We have undertaken major tree and shoal removal throughout the area to remove debris washed down in the floods. We plan to do similar work on the River Don in January. We have installed standby generators at our regulators on the River Rother in case of electricity supply failure.

Asset Repairs & Capital Schemes - Following last year’s floods we have repaired assets throughout South Yorkshire including:

 River Don embankment under new road bridge at Three Horseshoes PH, Doncaster  Wall repairs at Newton Farm, Doncaster  Reservoir repairs at Houghton, Dearne Valley  Stainforth wall emergency repairs  Bentley Pumping station electricity substation and access track  Ea Beck Outfall piles, study into corrosion

The Rotherham Scheme Phase 1 has now been completed:

The Stainforth Scheme will start on site by January 2009.

Don Strategy - We continue to develop the Don Strategy and draft options should be available by the beginning of 2009. We will continue to further develop the options, check the benefits of them, and prepare a programme. We will consult with stakeholders from February onwards, with formal consultation from May/June. We hope to get approval from the strategy late next year.

Flood Preparedness & Warnings - We have worked very closely with Local Authority Officers and the flooded communities, attending regular public meetings, drop-ins and flood awareness events.

We have been “knocking on doors” in at risk areas in Doncaster, Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Chesterfield to encourage people to sign up to our free flood warning service.

We have set up flood warden groups in many locations. We held a flood warden seminar on the theme of “What is your flood kit?”. Over 40 of the 100 groups in Yorkshire attended. This was an event where we shared our key messages from the flood awareness campaign; the groups shared their ideas and experiences, and had an opportunity to visit our Incident Room.

We are working on a trial project with Bradford MDC and local community leaders on communicating our messages to communities where English is a second language. If this pilot is successful, we will consider doing similar work across the Area.

Planning / Development Control - Key issue in the area is that a large proportion is at risk from flooding. Doncaster MBC is taking a proactive stance to implement PPS 25. They are currently producing an updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) and guidance notes for local developers – these guidance notes have been recognised as best practice and will now be used elsewhere in South Yorkshire. We are working closely with the planners on these and support the stance they are taking.

South Yorkshire Growth Point Bid – we objected to further growth in Hatfield and Stainforth because of the flood risk there and the condition of the flood defences. Doncaster have agreed to remove these sites from the Growth Point Bid. It does appear that Doncaster (along with other Authorities) will be given Growth Point Status by the Dept of Communities and Local Government although the announcement has not yet been made.

We dealt with a planning application for a Power Station on the old Hatfield Colliery site. There are some specific issues regarding abstraction from the River Don. In times of low flow, they will not be able to abstract as there is no further water available. At these times, they will have to change their operating process to deal with this.

Small scale growth has been restricted in the villages of Moss and Fishlake by Doncaster planners authority (with support from the EA) This was due to a proliferation of non mains drainage foul sewage systems which had led to a deterioration of water quality in the area. We now only consider the most innovative proposals for non mains foul drainage as acceptable in this area eg. drainage mounds.

For further information contact Sue O’Neill 0113 2134629 [email protected]

Scheme Details

Newton Farm Work here is to construct approximately 100m of flood defence wall. Work is scheduled to start 5th January 2009. The construction target is for the reinforced concrete wall to be completed by 31st March - thereby making the site 'watertight' by this date. Landscaping and work to clad the wall in natural stone will continue into April and May.

Bentley Ings Electricity sub station The electricity sub station at Bentley Ings was flooded in the summer 2007 event, preventing the pumping station from operating. The proposed works will raise the sub station to the height of the Don Barrier Banks (elevating it out of the flood level). The design for these works is complete. The programme of work is already underway with the electricity scheduled to be cut off on 13th January. The main works can then be safely carried out by our contractor working in close partnership with YEDL and IUS. A temporary high voltage generator will be in place for the duration to maintain electricity supply to the pumping station. We anticipate a completion date of 28 Feb 09.

Bentley Ings Access Track This scheme was to level and regrade this track and to provide marker posts for vehicles needing to access the site in flood conditions. This was completed in June 08, protecting 500 houses.

Three Horseshoes Public House The requirement was to raise an existing low spot in a third party defence to the height of the adjacent barrier bank. Approximately 30m of brick clad reinforced concrete wall was installed behind the pub and the pub garden successfully reinstated. Work was completed in October 2008.

Stainforth Stainforth is protected by a combination of hard defences and earth embankments totalling 2km in length, sections of which have a very high probability of failure. Emergency works to install piles along West Bank were carried out between May and July 2008. These works took longer than expected due to the vandalism to the piling rig and delays in getting an electricity service diverted. In parallel to this we are progressing additional works to improve the remaining defences in the town. Tenders have been awarded for the next phase. Our contractors, Interserve, started site clearance and preparation work from 1 December 2008. The main piling work will start after the Christmas closedown. The programme will take 52 weeks and will protect 1935 houses.

Ea Beck Outfall After the flooding of June 2007 we identified the need for emergency works to the sheet piling and banks of the River Don immediately up and downstream of Ea Beck outfall to stop leakage and movement of the piles. Works were completed earlier this year to repair the piles and ensure the standard of service has been maintained.

Bentley Ings Refurbishment Study At more than 65 years old, the Bentley Ings Pumping Station (completed in 1942) has exceeded its lifespan, has a number of defects and does not fully conform to current legislation. Power loss at the pumping station contributed significantly to the flooding in the Bentley area in summer 2007. As a result of this we are considering a joint capital project (with the Coal Authority) to either refurbish or replace the pumping station, Before we can consider this, we need to have a better understanding of how the station operates. Our current study aims to develop a comprehensive model of the pumping station and the watercourses discharging into it. The existing pumping capacity and the standard of flood protection provided by it to Bentley will be assessed and an analysis will be made into the feasibility of an upgrade for the station which protects 500 houses.

Ea Beck Triangle We are currently carrying out the detailed design and planning works for the improvement of approximately 700m of flood defence embankment to Ea Beck as it flows through the Ea Beck Triangle in Adwick-le-Street, Doncaster. Flooding from Ea Beck last summer contributed to the problems faced by the communities of both Adwick-le-Street and Toll Bar. The works will involve re-aligning and raising the flood embankments on both banks of the river as well as the creation of a flood storage area and habitat improvements. We are working closely with Network Rail, Northern Gas Networks, National Grid and the local Internal Drainage Board to ensure that plant and equipment owned and operated by our professional partners are moved in time for the works to commence in the summer. This will protect 430 houses.

2007 FLOODS - WORKSTREAM UPDATE 22 October 2008

INTRODUCTION

Following the Review undertaken by Sir Michael Pitt into the summer floods of 2007, Yorkshire Water has engaged in a number of activity streams. This work is designed to incorporate the lessons from past events and build greater service resilience in the future.

It is noted that the Pitt Review was commissioned by government for government and that a formal response to the various recommendations is awaited. In the interim, the position of Yorkshire Water has been to action recommendations where it is clearly desirable to do so. Our response also has to be measured against the other post flood review recommendations undertaken by wider industry and regulators.

Key workstreams and progress are as follows:

RELEASE OF DAM INUNDATION MAPS

These involve obvious security sensitivities and it was therefore necessary for a national sharing protocol to be developed to facilitate their release to Category 1 Responders. On receipt of this guidance, Yorkshire Water devised an Information Request Form that incorporates the relevant handling requirements. Dam inundation Maps have now been made available to the Environment Agency on this basis. The information Request Form has also been circulated to LRF Chairs.

Regrettably, we are not permitted to release copies of these historical records in electronic form. As a consequence, not all requests can be dealt with immediately. As an indication of the level of detail shown on the maps, it was necessary to provide the EA with approximately 7,000 (A3) colour copies of the 108 maps in our possession.

Our approach is to share this information with the Environment Agency and Local Resilience forums as it is felt that this should be sufficient for Cat 1 partners to put more robust temporary emergency plans in place. Whilst consideration will be given to making the maps more widely available to Cat 1 Responders on an individual basis, we would wish it to be demonstrated that this is absolutely necessary. We will avoid charging a fee wherever this is possible.

RELEASE OF DATA ON CRITICAL ASSETS

One of the urgent Pitt recommendations was to share security sensitive data on the assets we operate that are designated as critical to the UK National

Infrastructure. Since this time the Civil Contingencies Secretariat has issued guidance to LRF Chairs on how this can be achieved. Yorkshire Water has not had visibility or control of this process.

Since this time, many partners in the wider emergency planning community have also requested this data. Yorkshire Water is prevented from openly sharing this information which carries a security marking of ‘Secret’. However, the data we understand to have been provided to LRF Chairs on this (select) number of sites does allow more informed emergency plans to be developed. It should be pointed out that despite their security designation, these assets are routinely taken out of service from time to time for maintenance purposes and we have resilience mechanisms to facilitate this. In addition, we are building further resilience where this is necessary.

The designated sites are just part of the bigger picture and we are keen to share data on other assets that we regard as key from a flooding perspective. In reality, the location of designated sites can be effectively anonymised by including this information in a wider dataset and this is the approach we are adopting (not all designated sites are prone to flood). As a result our emergency planning colleagues will receive the full picture.

We understand and support the desire among partners to map our assets that may be prone to flooding and are working hard to facilitate this. The issue of criticality in this context is not straightforward because of the extent of our network (approximately 7,000 field assets) and the shifting resilience we experience in mitigating failing assets on an almost daily basis. In order to better understand the dynamics (and avoid burdening partners with an extremely lengthy list) we have commissioned the following work:

. Flood data supplied by the Environment Agency on 1:100 year and 1:1000 year scenarios has been overlaid on our asset inventory. From this 4,000 wastewater assets have been identified that fall within flood plains. These assets comprise treatment works, pumping stations and combined sewer overflows

. Consultants acting on our behalf have liaised with the EA and the 5 LRF’s in our operating region to obtain updated information on local topography and to identify hot spots

. We have further informed this data by consulting with our asset reinstatement team and ensuring we capture assets that were prone to flooding in 2007, but fall outside the EA identified flood plains

. A desktop exercise has been undertaken to better understand the criticality of these assets and identify where mitigation is needed

. Phase One of this work is now complete and we have arrived at an indicative number of 224 waste water treatment works across the region that are considered potentially vulnerable to flooding

. Phase Two of this work is now underway and we anticipate that after applying further mitigation where it is needed, approximately 50–100 of these sites will be classed as ‘critical’ in the context of flooding

. This means that each LRF will be able to digitise meaningful data, rather than overlay GIS systems with a considerable number of assets that may or may not be an issue for us

The same exercise is being undertaken in respect of our clean water assets and a similar picture is emerging.

Clean water assets have been assessed on the risk they pose to the loss of customer supply. Yorkshire Water operates a grid system and therefore has considerable resilience in the water network. For this reason, fewer assets have been assessed as at risk than waste water. However, the events of last year have presented an opportunity for us to validate existing contingency plans in the event of a loss of supply.

The resilience of those assets identified as prone to flooding will be improved by further flood prevention and protection measures. Proposals are being put forward and improvements will ultimately be made in 2010.

The potential number of clean water assets requiring additional work should be known by the December 2008. Current indications are that this number will be around 20 assets in total.

We hope you will understand that the criticality study is a complex undertaking and ask you to bear with us. When the final data is ready, you can be confident that this will be accurate and highly relevant to our combined emergency response plans.

In the meantime, we are happy to make phased data available to our partners if you feel this would be useful.

FLOOD EMERGENCY PLANS

The water industry has always planned for the consequences of unplanned interruption to supply or other asset failure in a generic way. In common with other water undertakers we have developed a comprehensive suite of emergency plans to cope with service failures, irrespective of the cause. These plans sit alongside and are complementary to our Business Continuity Plans. These combined plans are independently audited each year on behalf of our regulator (Defra) to ensure they are fit for purpose.

Following the floods of 2007, we are developing certain site specific flood emergency plans. A special team has been set up to complete this work which will be informed by the findings of our criticality study. In this way we will ensure we are even better placed to react to flood events in the future.

FLOOD ESCALATION PLAN

We have developed a flood escalation procedure with recognised trigger points that will ensure our response to flooding events is as timely and effective as possible. This procedure includes detailed reference to our partners who will be informed of our actions at appropriate stages as the situation develops.

REPRESENTATION AT COMMAND ROOMS

During the 2007 floods, Yorkshire Water sent representatives to each of the Gold and Silver Command Rooms in the Region. Internal arrangements have now been formalised to ensure appropriate representation continues in the future and a programme of training is being undertaken as well as participation in exercises (e.g. Solar Victory).

NATIONAL REPRESENTATION

. We are represented on the Flood Implementation Group chaired by a representative of Water UK . We are to be represented on the newly formed Water and Flood’s Bill Group to provide input from the water industry in development of the new bill

As a business, we have established a cross-function Flood Strategy Group and have adopted a position in relation to each of the recommendations that have emerged from all external flood reviews.

ENGAGEMENT OF YORKSHIRE WATER AS A CATEGORY 2 RESPONDER

We will continue to fully engage with partners at Regional and Local Resilience Forums and our Security & Emergency Planning Manager Chairs the North Yorkshire LRF Cat 2 Responders Group. We will also support the wider emergency planning community by attending meetings wherever possible. Given the number of external groups and the frequency of meetings, this continues to be a particular challenge for us. For this reason, our prime focus must be the Regional and Local Resilience Forums. We will always consider attendance at other planning meetings upon request.

Peter Ramsay Security & Emergency Planning Manager Yorkshire Water Services Limited

South Yorkshire Police

Summary of the work carried out since the floods of 2007 and the action that has been implemented.

Immediately after the floods the Doncaster Police Planning Unit attended an in depth de brief with DMBC Emergency Planning department where we reviewed the actions that each agency had taken. This resulted in an action schedule being created by the Council’s Emergency Planning Officer of highlighted areas for improvement. All of these have now been implemented.

As part of the review of the DMBC flood plan it was decided to implement a Flood Warden scheme in areas susceptible to flooding. This has been introduced at Toll Bar and is fully supported by and the Environment Agency.

A review was also undertaken of the multi-agency Silver control at Unity House. This was seen as an example of good practice and similar set ups are being considered in other areas of the county.

The South Yorkshire Police (Doncaster) flood contingency plan has been reviewed and updated and it links closely with the DMBC flood plan. There are set procedures in place where DMBC Emergency planning department will notify Police Planning Unit of river levels and at specific trigger levels we will prepare/activate Silver. This is a 24 hour system with contact numbers for Planning dept. with “Blackberrys” having been supplied to the Council’s Emergency Planning Officer. This will ensure that we are prepared in advance of any potential flooding. This was tested for real in January 2008 when the river levels at Stainforth almost resulted in an evacuation of the village.

The South Yorkshire Police flood contingency plans have been included on the Equinox briefing system that is available to all staff across the District on the intranet.

Specific contingency plans for identified threats have been prepared in conjunction with our category 1 (Civil Contingencies Act) partners. An example of this was the plan for Stainforth whilst the remedial work was being carried out on the river bank.

At a SY Police Force level a full review of the policing of the floods was carried out by HQ Contingency Planning and an action schedule created . All of the recommendations for Districts have been implemented at Doncaster.

A full health and safety risk assessment has been undertaken for officers working in flooded areas.

The Police have completed a full business continuity review and this has resulted in an in depth plan to ensure that we can operate should any of the police premises be compromised in the event of flooding, as was the case with , Bentley and DHQ. A back up multi-agency Silver Command has been identified (Carr House Centre) in the event of Unity House being affected.

New wireless technology has been acquired to send real time images from scene of flooding back to Silver control so commanders are constantly aware of front line conditions.

Doncaster Police Planning attend the Doncaster Emergency Services Liaison Group meetings chaired by the Council’s Emergency Planning Officer where flooding is a standing item.

Doncaster police are confident that their command and staff would be in a stronger position to respond to any potential or actual flooding events since the events of June 2007.

Internal Drainage Board Post Flooding (2007) Works

Detailed below are a number of works that have taken place following the summer 2007 floods.

Toll Bar

1. A scheme to raise the control cabinet at the pumping station has been finalised. Final approval is awaited from the Coal Authority. (They are 100% responsible for the funding of this pumping station which is operated by the Dun Drainage Commissioners).

2. Continuing discussions between Dun Drainage and DMBC resulted in the deepening, re-grading and re-establishment of the perimeter drains along the west/north boundary of the tip, East of Toll Bar.

3. The watercourse leading to Toll Bar Pumping Station has been widened and re-graded.

4. Detailed survey of watercourses south and west of Toll Bar has been carried out, and a deepening and re-grading scheme to watercourses south and west of Toll bar have been agreed. Land owner being contacted now with a view to works being completed this spring. Should enable surface water to be discharged at a lower level immediately adjacent to Toll Bar.

Reedholme Pumping Station

1. All as item 1 of Toll Bar notes.

Norwood Pumping Station

2. The major works to replace the pumping station is well underway. The completed scheme will provide improved protection with regard to the evacuation of flood water from the overspill area after an event.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Since the floods of 2007 South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) has focused on improving both its operational response and flood planning, whilst awaiting the outcomes from the Pitt Review and the Governments response to it.

We have increased our Water Rescue capability, and all personnel at Edlington Station are now trained to a higher nationally recognised standard in this respect. We are currently developing proposals to enable appliances at key stations to be quickly adapted to allow them to become mobile flood response vehicles should the situation demand it, whether through actual flooding or flood predictive information being obtained. Our appliances are soon to be equipped to carry appropriate Personal Protective Equipment to allow our crews to work more safely and comfortably in flood waters.

SYFR has comprehensively reviewed its Flooding Contingency Plan and has introduced ‘trigger points’ based on the experience of the floods. These trigger points allow us to identify a more efficient disposition of our resources and will hopefully get us ahead of the game. The trigger points will also activate the mobile flood response outlined above. We have extensively trained and exercised using the updated plan.

In conjunction with other partners we have developed the Multi Agency Gold Command facility, which will provide responding agencies with an improved command and control capability at a strategic level, this will undoubtedly enhance the overall flood response were it to be needed. In conjunction with this, SYFR has developed its own Command Operations Room within its new headquarters in Sheffield. This will improve our command and control capability and resource deployment.

SYFR has continued to improve its liaison with both the Environment Agency and the Met Office and we now receive and react to the information they provide in a much more structured way. The information is disseminated as widely as possible and it has been used to review our risk assessments in respect of the threat from flooding.