Agenda item

A report will be presented which considers progress against the Action Plan of the Kirklees Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and sets out the process for the development of the new strategy, which is due to be adopted in late 2023.

Contact:

Rashid Mahmood – Flood Manager, Planning and Development

A report was submitted which considered progress against the Action Plan of the Kirklees Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and set out the process for the development of the new strategy, which was due to be adopted in late 2023.

Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration

was in attendance at the meeting introduced the report.

Rashid Mahmood – Flood Manager, Planning and Development and Chris Johnson, Operational Manager, Highways, attended the meeting to present the report and answer questions. The report:

·       Summarised the work undertaken within the last twelve months and ongoing projects

·       Set out the process and anticipated timescales in respect of the development and launch of a new Flood Risk Management Strategy.

·       Provided information on the implementation of the new approach in relation to Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDs).

·       Provided an update in relation to the issues that had been raised by the Committee when flood risk management had last been considered.

The Committee also welcomed representatives of partners;

·       Matt Snelling, on behalf of the White Rose Forest project, who gave an overview of the Landscapes for Water programme which was a local authority based joint venture to support tree planting across West and North Yorkshire, funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and aligned with the national England’s Community Forests initiative. He explained that, the creation of woodland in targeted areas would provide significant natural flood management benefits and mitigate flood risk, and provided details on a number of specific projects.

·       Rosie Holdsworth, from the National Trust, in relation to the Growing Resilience Natural Flood Management and Woodland Creation Project. This was a partnership project, led by Yorkshire Water and the National Trust, which aimed to reduce flood risk to downstream communities, through use of natural flood management solutions and sustainable drainage interventions, along with landscape restoration. The project had included community engagement, to raise awareness of the benefits of natural flood management, and volunteers had made a significant contribution to delivery. It also aimed to understand the impacts of the interventions and to share that learning.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       The engagement to establish community flood plans that would be owned by the local community, with support from officers, was at an early stage. Leads for five areas had been secured.

·       The partners included the National Trust, Yorkshire Water, Woodlands Trust Moorlands for the Future and the Environment Agency.

·       ‘Green Streets’ was the urban work undertaken by the White Rose Forest and, in Kirklees, this was undertaken alongside officers from Highways and Streetscene. These schemes came with 15 year funding to support delivery of planting and maintenance.

·       The National Trust worked in close partnership with a wide range of strategic organisations such as Kirklees, other local authorities, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Yorkshire Water, the Woodland Trust, the Environment Agency and Natural England as well as a number of smaller community groups and volunteers. There were also strong relationships with the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Police in respect of issues such as moorland fires.

·       The partnership working across a wide range of organisations was appreciated.

·       The engagement with local communities and the building of resilience was welcomed but it was important that the community flood wardens were an addition to the current services not a replacement.

·       Property flood resilience was one element of this and grants could be offered to householders to undertake improvements to their properties.

·       The work being undertaken by the White Rose Forest and the National Trust, alongside partners, was excellent.

·        In terms of the ongoing need to maintain the interventions, it was explained that they were designed so that relatively little, or no, maintenance would be needed, but the National Trust had a dedicated team of staff who, together with volunteers, were working to restore the moorland and ongoing maintenance and repairs would form part of that work.

·       The Council was to commence a district-wide study to identify opportunities for further natural flood management interventions to be undertaken.

·       It was hoped that agri-environment schemes would incentivise other landowners to take such schemes forward in the future.

·       The woodland creation used UK native species that were specifically chosen, further to extensive surveys and design work, to be suitable for the site/area concerned.

·       Assessing the impact of the intervention works on the water downstream and in reducing flooding was not straightforward. There were models that could try to recreate the situation, but this was a work in progress. A significant amount of research was ongoing to understand this better and work was being done with the University. The National Trust were also monitoring impacts. It was known that these interventions worked but quantifying the results was more difficult.

Resolved –

(1)      That the representatives of the White Rose Forest and the National Trust be thanked for attending the Committee and for their interesting and informative presentations on the ongoing work in relation to natural flood management.

(2)      That the strong partnership working arrangements be welcomed.

(3)      That the new Flood Risk Management Strategy be submitted to the Committee for pre-decision scrutiny in advance of it being presented to Cabinet.

A report was submitted which considered progress against the Action Plan of the Kirklees Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and set out the process for the development of the new strategy, which was due to be adopted in late 2023.

Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration

was in attendance at the meeting introduced the report.

Rashid Mahmood – Flood Manager, Planning and Development and Chris Johnson, Operational Manager, Highways, attended the meeting to present the report and answer questions. The report:

·       Summarised the work undertaken within the last twelve months and ongoing projects

·       Set out the process and anticipated timescales in respect of the development and launch of a new Flood Risk Management Strategy.

·       Provided information on the implementation of the new approach in relation to Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDs).

·       Provided an update in relation to the issues that had been raised by the Committee when flood risk management had last been considered.

The Committee also welcomed representatives of partners;

·       Matt Snelling, on behalf of the White Rose Forest project, who gave an overview of the Landscapes for Water programme which was a local authority based joint venture to support tree planting across West and North Yorkshire, funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and aligned with the national England’s Community Forests initiative. He explained that, the creation of woodland in targeted areas would provide significant natural flood management benefits and mitigate flood risk, and provided details on a number of specific projects.

·       Rosie Holdsworth, from the National Trust, in relation to the Growing Resilience Natural Flood Management and Woodland Creation Project. This was a partnership project, led by Yorkshire Water and the National Trust, which aimed to reduce flood risk to downstream communities, through use of natural flood management solutions and sustainable drainage interventions, along with landscape restoration. The project had included community engagement, to raise awareness of the benefits of natural flood management, and volunteers had made a significant contribution to delivery. It also aimed to understand the impacts of the interventions and to share that learning.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       The engagement to establish community flood plans that would be owned by the local community, with support from officers, was at an early stage. Leads for five areas had been secured.

·       The partners included the National Trust, Yorkshire Water, Woodlands Trust Moorlands for the Future and the Environment Agency.

·       ‘Green Streets’ was the urban work undertaken by the White Rose Forest and, in Kirklees, this was undertaken alongside officers from Highways and Streetscene. These schemes came with 15 year funding to support delivery of planting and maintenance.

·       The National Trust worked in close partnership with a wide range of strategic organisations such as Kirklees, other local authorities, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Yorkshire Water, the Woodland Trust, the Environment Agency and Natural England as well as a number of smaller community groups and volunteers. There were also strong relationships with the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Police in respect of issues such as moorland fires.

·       The partnership working across a wide range of organisations was appreciated.

·       The engagement with local communities and the building of resilience was welcomed but it was important that the community flood wardens were an addition to the current services not a replacement.

·       Property flood resilience was one element of this and grants could be offered to householders to undertake improvements to their properties.

·       The work being undertaken by the White Rose Forest and the National Trust, alongside partners, was excellent.

·        In terms of the ongoing need to maintain the interventions, it was explained that they were designed so that relatively little, or no, maintenance would be needed, but the National Trust had a dedicated team of staff who, together with volunteers, were working to restore the moorland and ongoing maintenance and repairs would form part of that work.

·       The Council was to commence a district-wide study to identify opportunities for further natural flood management interventions to be undertaken.

·       It was hoped that agri-environment schemes would incentivise other landowners to take such schemes forward in the future.

·       The woodland creation used UK native species that were specifically chosen, further to extensive surveys and design work, to be suitable for the site/area concerned.

·       Assessing the impact of the intervention works on the water downstream and in reducing flooding was not straightforward. There were models that could try to recreate the situation, but this was a work in progress. A significant amount of research was ongoing to understand this better and work was being done with the University. The National Trust were also monitoring impacts. It was known that these interventions worked but quantifying the results was more difficult.

Resolved –

(1)      That the representatives of the White Rose Forest and the National Trust be thanked for attending the Committee and for their interesting and informative presentations on the ongoing work in relation to natural flood management.

(2)      That the strong partnership working arrangements be welcomed.

(3)      That the new Flood Risk Management Strategy be submitted to the Committee for pre-decision scrutiny in advance of it being presented to Cabinet.