Follow the Thread on - FLOODING - Continuation (2)

Latest Article: Council receives grant of more than £56,000 after supporting flood victims

18/3/15     See top of Page 1

Article Dates: Page 1

17th July 2014 - Give a Thought to Flood Prevention

21st July 2014 - Free Collection Service for Flood-Damaged Goods

7th Aug 2014 - Summit to address flood-related issues

Article Dates: Page 2

7th Aug 2014 - Summit to address flood-related issues

20th Aug 2014 - Flood Forum

27th Aug 2014 - Latest Update

31st Oct 2014 -  More than 30 areas undergoing works to combat flooding

Article Dates: Page 3

31st Oct 2014 -  More than 30 areas undergoing works to combat flooding (Cont)

20th Nov 2014 - Diggers at work to combat flooding!

Article Dates: Page 4

28th Nov 2014 - New date set for Flood Forum – Monday, December 15

22nd Dec 2014 - Council allocates £20,000 to protect residents from flooding

4th Feb 2015 - Help for families and businesses affected by flooding

Summit to address flood-related issues (Cont)

Leader of Rochford District Council, Councillor Terry Cutmore, who chairs the Advisory Group for Flooding, explained: “After the flooding in our District last year it became very apparent that there were areas which needed work to help prevent flooding occurring again. Although flooding issues are not the responsibility of Rochford District Council we wanted to ensure that all the relevant agencies sat down together to discuss how to tackle the issues. The Council’s priority is to protect the District’s residents and local economy so we hope that organising regular meetings and working together with all those involved will be a positive step in doing so”.

A raft of measures has already been carried out to tackle flooding in the District, following the sustained period of wet weather last year.

Essex County Council has made an extra £1 million of emergency funding for highway flooding hotspots across the county. Rochford District Council was asked to produce a list of our five most affected locations, and this list was approved by Essex County Council.

The list below details the five sites identified, where Essex County Council has either begun or is due to carry out work:

Beneath the railway bridges at Spa Road in Hockley

Beneath the railway bridge at Church Road in Hockley

Beneath the railway bridge at Hall Road in Rochford

Watery Lane in Hullbridge

Barling Road near to Kingsmead Cottages, in Barling

The list does not contain major junctions such as Rayleigh Weir and the Fairglen Interchange as these are covered under separate plans.

As well as the five sites, work has also been carried out at Hedgehope Avenue and Fairmead, in Rayleigh, which consisted of pipe laying works, the clearance of vegetation and removal of debris.

Rochford District Council had previously budgeted £18,000 towards tackling surface water drainage issues. This will now be eligible for a match-funding offer from Essex County Council, who are offering up to £50,000 to tackle local flooding issues.

This cash would be used to work with other authorities and landowners who are responsible for maintaining our ditches, drains and the associated streams, to ensure the necessary improvements are completed.

Councillor Cutmore said: “For those whose homes flooded it has been an extremely difficult time. I want to assure them that, although we are not the authority responsible for flooding, we are doing all we can to bring together the relevant authorities in order to ensure that on-going proper maintenance is put in place to avoid a repeat of the situation we faced when local homes flooded.”

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Flood Forum

20 Aug 2014

More than 60 residents attend Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues

More than 60 residents attended a meeting organised by Rochford District Council to address local flooding issues.

The Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues brought together organisations including Essex Highways, Anglian Water and the Essex County Council Flood Management Team for an in depth discussion about how to resolve issues across the District.  We are also working closely with The Environment Agency.

Rochford District Council is not responsible for flooding issues, but created the Forum in an attempt to help resolve issues for residents. The aim of the group is to find out who is responsible for various watercourses, ditches and drains, and then try to ensure that those responsibilities are complied with.

During the meeting, Rochford District Council’s principle engineer spoke about how, together with Councillor Keith Hudson, he had visited various sites where flooding had occurred to try to identify the source of the problem and speak with some of the affected residents, before passing his findings on to the relevant agency to resolve.

Essex County Council and Anglian Water also spoke about the work they had been undertaking to resolve flooding issues in streets across the District. Residents directly raised concerns about problem areas, which the agencies agreed to reviewed as a matter of urgency.

Rochford District Council had previously budgeted £18,000 towards tackling surface water drainage. This will now be eligible for a match-funding offer from Essex County Council, who are offering up to £50,000 to tackle local flooding issues.

Leader of Rochford District Council and chairman of the Forum, Councillor Terry Cutmore, said: “Although Rochford District Council is not responsible for flooding issues, we are not the sort of authority who will just step back and hope that others will carry out the necessary works, we wanted to bring all the agencies together to try to ensure that people’s homes aren’t flooded again. The current system is very complicated with some areas being the responsibility of Anglian Water, some of Essex County Council, some of the Environment Agency, and some lying with the landowner. The aim of these meetings is co-ordinate these various agencies so we can work in the best interests of residents, and I’m pleased to say a lot of positive work has been done.“It was also helpful to hear from the residents who have been directly affected, and I really do feel for them. This is exactly why we are doing this – we hope that this Forum will ensure that we are all working together for the benefit of residents.”

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Latest update:  27th Aug 2014

A further meeting of the Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues has been scheduled, in order to drive forward improvements to local watercourses, ditches and drains.  Rochford District Council will host the meeting at the Civic Suite, Rayleigh, at 4pm on October 1 and members of the public are welcome to attend.   It will bring together groups including Essex Highways, Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and the Essex County Council Flood Management Team, who are committed to working together to solve residents’ issues.

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More than 30 areas undergoing works to combat flooding

31st October 2014

More than 30 areas across the Rochford District are undergoing maintenance work to combat flooding issues. This work is being driven by the Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues which was set up to find practical solutions for local residents.

Although Rochford District Council is not responsible for flooding issues, it created the Forum in order to bring together organisations including Essex Highways, Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and the Essex County Council Flood Management Team.

The aim of the group is to find out who is responsible for various watercourses, ditches and drains, and then try to ensure that those responsibilities are complied with.  Prior to each meeting, Rochford District Council’s principle engineer visited various sites where flooding has occurred to try to identify the source of the problem and speak with some of the affected residents, before passing his findings on to the relevant agency to resolve.  These have then been discussed at the Forum meetings, where residents have also had the opportunity to raise concerns about problem areas.

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