Follow the Thread on - FLOODING - Continuation (4)

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

New date set for Flood Forum – Monday, December 15, at 10am

28th November 2014

A group designed to combat flooding in the Rochford District is keeping up the momentum – with a new meeting date set for December. The meeting of the Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues will be held at 10am on Monday, December 15, at the Civic Suite, Rayleigh, and members of the public are welcome to attend.

Although Rochford District Council is not directly responsible for flood-related issues, it set up the Forum to bring together agencies including Essex Highways, Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and the Essex County Council Flood Management Team in order to tackle ongoing issues together.

The purpose of these meetings is to find out who is responsible for various watercourses, ditches and drains, and then try to ensure that those responsibilities are complied with.

Deputy Leader of Rochford District Council and Deputy Chairman of the Forum, Councillor Keith Hudson, said: “At the last meeting more than 30 hotspots were discussed in relation to flooding. This meeting will review these sites to ensure that progress is being made in relation to the necessary maintenance work. I’m pleased to say that much of the work carried out so far is bearing fruit, with no properties flooded during recent heavy rainfall. However, we cannot rest on our laurels, we must ensure we keep up this momentum in order to prevent flood-related issues in the future.”

The latest meeting has had to be scheduled for the morning as it proved impossible for the various agencies, who are extremely busy in the run-up to Christmas, to attend an evening meeting.  Rather than delay the good progress that has already been made it was deemed appropriate to hold this meeting to suit the availability of the various responsible authorities in order to receive an update on progress and to be given information on sites where progress has not yet proven to be possible.

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Council allocates £20,000 to protect residents from flooding.

 22/12/14

Rochford District Council has allocated an additional £20,000 to flood maintenance works, as part of an on-going drive to resolve flooding issues for residents. The decision was made at the latest meeting of the Forum for Surface Water Issues where the money was allocated following a vote.  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 to find practical solutions for local residents who have suffered from surface water issues as a result of wet weather. 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 the meeting, Rochford District Council’s principal 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 were then discussed at the Forum meetings, where residents had the opportunity to raise concerns about problem areas.

Rochford District Council’s Deputy Leader, and Deputy Chairman of the Forum, Councillor Keith Hudson motioned to spend £11,000 for works at Rawreth Brook at Fairmead and Boston Avenue, both in the Rayleigh area, and a further £9,000 for work at Nobles Green Ditch at Bramfield Road East and Milton Close, again in the Rayleigh area, – this was put to a vote and agreed.

Said Councillor Hudson,  “Although this is not the responsibility of the District Council, with so many land owners involved, it would have proven impossible to maintain these major water courses if the Council had not taken the lead” .  “In allocating this £20,000 we hope to drive forward the necessary maintenance works, particularly as we all know how devastating it has been for residents whose homes have previously been flooded. I want to reassure residents that we will not be leaving them to fend for themselves – we have been holding the various agencies to account and allocating funds wherever we can. We have been allocated up to £50,000 of match funding by Essex County Council to work on problem areas within the District and we have been looking to make the best use of these funds. We believe that spending some of this on these particular problem areas is a very positive step to ensuring greater protection for residents against any future flooding”.

Rochford District Council is eligible for up to £50,000 of match-funding from Essex County Council to tackle surface water flooding issues, so projects such as these can be supported. The Council has already allocated funds to dig a new ditch to the rear of Blower Close, in Rayleigh.

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 Help for families and businesses affected by flooding

4/2/15

Rochford District Council is helping families and businesses affected by flooding to access Government funding.

The Government has made a last minute extension to the qualification period for the Flood Support Scheme, so that it now includes August 2013 when flash floods affected properties in the Rochford district.

Previously this support was only offered to those flooded between December 2013 and March 2014, which meant that those properties in the district affected by the flooding in August 2013 were not able to claim financial support.  It is now available to anyone who suffered damage to their property during the whole of the 2013/14 financial year.

Rochford District Council has already provided support to residents who had to leave their properties prior to March 2014 because of flood damage and met the cost of the council tax for about 90 properties.

Information on the support available is on the Council’s website at www.rochford.gov.uk/floodsupport  or call the Council on 01702 546366.  The support is only available for a limited time as we need to know the amounts involved by March 31. This support is available to householders as a Council Tax rebate for those who had to leave their flooded homes, or as a grant for work that improves your property’s ability to withstand future flooding. Businesses can also claim for flood resilience works and for the development of business recovery plans.

Rochford District Council has also set up a Forum for Surface Water Issues to bring together organisations including Essex Highways, Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and the Essex County Council Flood Management Team, to find practical solutions for local residents who have suffered from surface water issues as a result of wet weather.

Although Rochford District Council is not responsible for flooding issues, it created the Forum to find out who is responsible for various watercourses, ditches and drains, and then try to ensure that those responsibilities are complied with.

Deputy Leader of Rochford District Council and vice chairman of the Forum, Councillor Keith Hudson, said: “I have spoken directly with residents who were flooded out of their homes and can appreciate just how devastating this upheaval can be, particularly for those who have been flooded more than once.

“I am delighted that the Government has now extended the financial support to those affected by flooding in August 2013 as this will help many more of our residents. I also welcome the fact that the extension of the scheme could now mean some of our businesses may qualify for help. I urge everyone affected to apply as soon as possible.”

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

18/3/15     See top of Page 1

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Where a series of press releases follow the same subject Rochford Life will group those pages together so that you can follow the thread and look back and see how it has developed. The most recent page will be at the top of this page, but then all other articles will be in chronological order starting from the first we received.  To see all articles scroll down.