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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Richmond and Kingston Councils to lead work on flood management
December 19, 2008 9:00 PM
• RICHMOND and Kingston Councils have been successful in a national bid for DEFRA funding to develop pilot surface water management plans. The £50K made available will enable both councils to develop a more accurate analysis of the actual risk of flooding in the future.
Commenting on the award of the DEFRA funding Cllr Martin Elengorn, Cabinet Member for Environment on Richmond Council said: "I am very happy that DEFRA have chosen Richmond and Kingston to work together on this important project. With climate change the risk of flooding is ever increasing. Changes to our built environment also influence these risks. Unfortunately records of flooding incidents are very limited. Improving the recording of this information will allow us to compare historic records against future predictions. This is vital when examining the risk posed by the different types of flooding affected by climate change. We need to establish risks relating to homes that are currently situated outside the Environment Agencies flood zones".
Local people can get involved by helping record information about floods and other Surface Water related incidents. But this needs to be done in a systematic and meticulous fashion. Anyone who would like to find out more or who thinks they could help collect the information should contact the Borough Contingencies Unit via: Emergency.planning@richmond.gov.uk .
Susan Kramer MP has welcomed the announcement; she commented: "The storms last year were a real warning to us as quite a few vulnerable streets got flooded - some parts of North Kingston were ankle deep in water. In particular the junction at Kingston Hill and the rail bridge were quite impassable and a number of homes were damaged. We have been pressing DEFRA to work more closely with local councils on this issue and not just Thames Water so this joint funding announcement is really welcome. The joint working on this by the two councils is also a real step forward since the river and storm waters do not obey borough boundaries!"
Background: Richmond and Kingston Councils submitted a joint Defra sponsored Surface Water Management bid. The bid was supported by existing proactive work, such as Richmond's Oversight and Scrutiny report of the surface water risks in 2008 and Kingston's Hogsmill River Catchment Integrated Urban Drainage Project, involving engineering contractors Jacobs, the Environment Agency and Thames Water. Richmond already chairs a pan-London Flood Working Group which aims to ensure all London boroughs are aware of how the Pitt Review recommendations can be delivered through efficient and effective collective effort. Their Partner Engineering Contractors Jacobs have recently produced Strategic Flood Risk Assessment for both Richmond and Kingston's and most of the surrounding boroughs so they already have a detailed understanding of the local area and know the key staff within the organisations required to be consulted in the area.
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