Flood Forum Meeting
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Approved minutes Flood Forum Meeting Minutes of the Flood Forum meeting held on Friday 7 February 2014 From 10.30am – 12.15pm Fairlands Community Centre, Fairlands 1. Present: Mrs Anne Milton MP – Chair, Mrs Gaynor White - Clerk to WPC, Mr John Burt - Resident Jacobs Well, Dr Paul Cragg, WPC – Mr Derek Slaymaker, WPC, Cllr David Elms – WPC/GBC, Mrs Eileen Peacock and Mr Chris Peacock – Residents Fairlands, Mrs Sandra Morgan - WPC, Mr Alex Lees - Resident Burdenshott Road, Mr John Phillips - Resident Whitmoor Common, Miss Shirley Brown - Resident Fairlands, Mr Ali Cotton – Halcrow, Mr Geoff Fowler - GBC, Ms Charlotte Williams - SWT, Mr Jason Lewis - SCC, Mrs Ann Brock - Resident Fairlands, Mr R Everest - Resident Littlefield Common, Mr Alan Dillon - Resident Fairlands, Mr Keith Crossman - Burpham Community Association, Mr Peter Trevena - Groundsman WPC, Mrs Justine Glyn Environment Agency, Paul Kenny - Group Commander - Operational Assurance & Community Impact, West Area Command Surrey Fire and Rescue Service , John Snare - Resident Pine Park , Mr Mark Havler – SWT, Francis Egleton – Thames Water, Dan Trenchard - Thames Water, Keith Herbert - Thames Water, Will Randall – Thames Water, John Morley - Resident Wood Street Village, Mr Chris Venables – WPC, Miss Helen Parkin – SCC, Mr Larry Rose - Resident Jacobs Well, Mr Geoff Timmins - Resident Wood Street Village. Mrs Milton thanked all of the officers from the various organisations for attending the meeting. Since its inauguration in 2005 the Worplesdon Flood Forum has gone from strength to strength. The format has been rolled out across the County and a number of new Flood Forums have now been established the latest being at Alfold, Surrey. 2. Apologies: Mr Lawson Aldred – resident Jacobs Well, Mr André Langlois – Surrey Advertiser, Mr Abhi Sharma – Environment Agency, Cllr Keith Witham – SCC Mrs Janet Smith - JWRA Environment Group, Cllr Bob McShee - Guildford Borough Council/WPC. Issues in Jacobs Well: 3. Britten’s Pond Charlotte Williams Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) gave the following progress report: The silt trap is to be de-silted week commencing 17 th February, subject to weather conditions. Guildford Borough Council (GBC) appointed Land and Water Services to carry out the work. GBC are also paying for the de-silting operation. The silt will be laid in three locations around the edge of the silt trap, an exemption licence having been obtained from the Environment Agency. It is anticipated that this work will take five days to complete. After the silt trap has been de-silted it is intended that the main pond will be de-silted the cost of which will be between £70,000 and £150,000. The silt from the main pond will be used to rebuild the islands and to “bank-up” around the site. The current anticipated start date for this work is anticipated to be March 2015. All parties are in agreement with the proposals and funding applications are now being progressed. 4. Pond beside the A320 – Flooding of the Woking Road near the junction with Clay Lane Charlotte Williams advised that this pond is not connected to Britten’s Pond. It is in fact a freestanding pond. Surrey Wildlife Trust is looking to carry out de-silting work, however, there are great crested newts in the area and in 1 Approved minutes accordance with best practice the work must therefore be carried out in September October 2014. Money has been set aside to re-landscape and re-profile this pond. John Burt advised on the old tithe map a connection is shown between Britain’s Pond and the pond beside the A320. It was agreed that John Burt and Charlotte Williams discuss this after the meeting. John Burt stated that during the severe wet weather this pond has had insufficient capacity to cope with the volume of surface water and water is ponding on the A320, creating a hazard. Charlotte Williams stated that as great crested newts are protected by European law Surrey Wildlife Trust has to abide by the rules and regrettably the work cannot be undertaken any sooner. Mr Slaymaker expressed his frustration that motorists lives could be placed at risk because of a few great crested newts. Action: John Burt and Charlotte Williams to liaise after the meeting. 5. Clay Lane – On-going problems outside Hurst Farm and Hurst Farm House Jason Lewis SCC advised when the gas main was replaced, a siphon was put in which is less effective from an engineering point of view. A solution is currently being sought. Root ingress near Tynley is also causing backing up at this point. Action: Jason Lewis and John Burt to meet on site as soon as weather conditions permit. 6. Clay Lane – Fluvial flooding Christmas 2013 Clay Lane had to be closed by Surrey Police on several occasions including Christmas Eve. Two areas were affected: Near the entrance to Chambers Waste Management (blocked culvert?) and near Burpham Court Farm. The heavy rain over the winter has, of course, been exceptional. Large numbers of weather warnings have been in place constantly across the south-east since 28 th of October 2013. Guildford town centre was also badly affected by flooding Christmas 2013. Anne Milton advised on 28 December the floodwater in Clay Lane reached her knees. John Burt advised that on Boxing Day motorists were ignoring the police road closure notices and driving through the floodwater. Keith Crossman advised that the road closure notices had not given adequate notice as they were placed too near the blind corner. Jason Lewis advised that Surrey County Council erect the red road closure signs and Surrey Police erect the blue police road closure signs. Mrs Milton stated that the installation of two signs by two separate organisations seemed a waste of resources and enquired whether Surrey Police could in future place out both the red and blue signs. John Burt stated that the land beside Burpham Court Farm is a natural floodplain. Gaynor White enquired whether GBC had any intention to de-silt the ditches at Burpham Court Farm. Actions: Gaynor White to ask Surrey Police to place the warning signs away from the blind bend in future. Jason Lewis to ascertain the legal requirements regarding the road closure notices. 2 Approved minutes Jason Lewis, Geoff Fowler and John Burt to meet on site to enable them to get a fair understanding of the problems at this location. 7. Reinstatement of damaged bund Oak Tree Close Geoff Fowler GBC advised that he had written to the land owner and hoped to have a constructive conversation with the landowner in the near future. John Burt advised that as the Brook has been running freely as a result there hadn’t yet been any overtopping, however, any sudden blockage could cause rapid flooding of properties. Action: Geoff Fowler to provide a progress report at the next Flood Forum meeting. 8. Main drainage ditch beside the A320 – Salt Box Road to Hazel Ave - Ongoing Mark Havler advised that this ditch had been de-silted a year ago. There are some slight blockages caused by debris in the ditch. The section of ditch which runs alongside the A320 in front of Stringer’s Farm and Bullen’s Farm is the responsibility of the two farm owners. The main drainage ditch extends to Hazel Avenue. At its lowest point the ditch does a sharp right although the extent of the drainage ditch is currently unknown. Water has been gathering in large quantities at the low point and has overtopped onto the A320 causing single file traffic. Those present at the meeting were uncertain as to whose responsibility the remaining section of the ditch is. Actions: Worplesdon Parish Council to write to the owners of Stringer’s Farm and Bullen’s Farm on behalf of the Flood Forum asking them to de-silt their sections of the ditch. Mark Havler to investigate the full extent of the ditch leading from Hazel Avenue in an attempt to establish ownership. 9. Pond works, White House Pond – Jacobs Well This work had been delayed due to the late hibernation of the great crested newts. Regrettably, it now looks like this work will have to wait until September/October 2014. 10. Jacobs Well Village Hall – Problem with removal of waste water from village hall Thames Water advised that they had carried out high pressure jetting. The system had been scaled and cleaned. It appeared the problem was caused by root ingress of the system. It was hoped this issue was now resolved. 11. Entrance into Jacobs Well Village Hall - Surface water not draining away since Jacobs Well Road was re- surfaced. John Burt advised that there are no road gullies following the resurfacing of Jacobs Well Road. Jason Lewis advised that there had never been drainage on the village Hall side of the road. John Burt stated that the village hall car park is served by a soak away system. However, because the level of the road surface was raised, surface water can no longer drain into the soak away system within the car park and surface water is now ponding at the entrance to the car park causing problems. 3 Approved minutes Jason Lewis advised that Paul Bucknall has been seconded onto the Operation Horizon project and a new Maintenance Engineer is due to take post in March. Action: John Burt, Jason Lewis, and the new maintenance engineer to meet on site in March/April. 12. Stringer’s Ave – A property and highway flooded On 17 January 2014 Thames Water had sent tankers to pump out number 61 Stringer’s Avenue and to clear water from the highway. Thames Water has been experiencing difficulties in accessing their surface water pipe system to affect the necessary repairs and is considering taking legal action, but this will only be used as a means of last resort.