Click on the Image to see the list Brockham Parish Council are working on with Surrey County Council and the Flood Forum inc EA, Bert, Councillor Budd and Betchworth PC

Meeting held 24th December 2022

Attendees

·        Robert Bartlett (RB) / Bob Thomas (BT) - BERT

·        Helyn Clack (HC) - SCC County Councillor - Chair of the Meeting and Flood Forum

·        Simon Budd (SB) - MVDC Councillor

·        Mark Davies (MD) - SCC Flood and Climate Resilience Project Manager

·        Karen Gargani (KG - Chairman / Claire Minter (CM) - Clerk - Brockham Parish Council

·        Ed Winter (EW) – Vice Chairman Betchworth PC

·        Tor Peebles (TP) SCC Flood resilience and Risk Management Team Leader

·        Andrew Treasure (AT) - SCC Flood & Climate Resilience Technical Specialist

·        Guy Whittaker (GW)  - - SCC Senior Flood and Climate Resilience Officer

·        Emma Crofts (EC) - Environmental Agency - Flood Resistance

·        Clive Medley (CM) - Environmental Agency - Flood Strategy

Sorry – I did not catch the name of the gentleman who sat between Clive and Emma.

Background 

* BERT has been keeping several of the ditches in the village clear. This is a voluntary role.

* Brockham Parish Council (BPC) pays for Contractors to keep other areas clear - such as the Big Field ditch.

* Landowners have responsibility to keep ditches on their land/ boundary clear.

* Highways/ SCC are not responsible for maintaining the ditches by the side of the roads unless they own the land/ fields beside the road.

* Highways are responsible for pipes that are below a road/highway as this is treated as a culvert or bridge over the pipe or drain

* Mole Valley District Council owns and is responsible for Brockham Green

* SCC has £60,000 left in the flood alleviation budget for Brockham, they have not yet received the additional  Â£60,000 S106/ CIL funding from the Tanners Meadow development. The current budget can be used for maintenance work - not just capital expenditure.

* About three years ago, BERT and SCC Ian Fowler, (Mark Davies's predecessor) reviewed the various ditches and runs offs in the village and liaised with BPC to agree proposals and a course of action for work that could be undertaken. A few meetings were held with Brockham Parish and Betchworth Parish Councillors, BERT representatives, Helyn Clack and SCC with Ian to agree priorities.  Ian arranged for a new ditch/ footpath to be created by the side of the chimney pots footpath to help with drainage. He also arranged for Bill Kear Contractors to spend about one week in the village carrying out various assessments of underground pipes and clearing blockages, drains and undertaking small repairs. After this work was done, the initial list was reviewed and various projects cleared/ crossed off - see attached.

* Ian subsequently left the department and MD took over. CM had been liaising with MD. Meanwhile SB and BB had attended a Flood Forum meeting with AT. All parties have now joined up for the meeting today.

General

* At today's meeting TP advised that some of the ‘jobs’ on the list for Brockham were classed as maintenance rather than capital expenditure projects and that it was important to include the Parish Council to ensure that once fixes were arranged, the landowner accepted responsibility for maintenance and this should be followed up, rather than using volunteers as this may not be sustainable in the long term.  It was agreed that Mark Davies (MD) would review and arrange for these works to be implemented.

* MD would liaise with CM and BT for the detail and background. It was noted the request for the straight run of pipe from Wheelers Lane to the church was still considered to be beneficial and to be put back on the list for review.

* BB would also share historical information and data BERT has been collating.

* In 2013 and 2016 the EA surveyed and appraised the area and explored options to help prevent flooding. It was felt that nothing definitive could be identified that would work to assist with this.

* A key prevention to reduce flooding is ongoing maintenance of all ditches in the village and ensuring this is set for the future with clear and definitive roles and responsibilities.

* Under the Land Drainage Act 1991 Councils have the power to enforce land owners to maintain their section of an ordinary watercourse.

Proposed retention ponds on Wellhouse Lane/ end of Wheelers Lane

-             All visited the site and discussed proposals and options on both sides of Wellhouse Lane, noting Betchworth Parish Council's wish to use the old highways tarmac area to also improve the look and have a wildlife haven.

-             MD advised the ponds were a good idea but the modelling to assess water flow shows the ponds would not be big enough to make much of a difference. In a heavy rainfall event (ponds could hold 2mil litres but run off from rivers and land would be 32mil litres)

-             If this option was progressed it would be far better to have larger retention ponds. It was agreed that CM/ EW would speak with landowners (Farmer and Hamilton Estate) to make introductions for MD/ TP to make contact to discuss options for using additional land.

-             If this was a feasible option and something to be considered it would take time to have all legal agreements in place (circa 12m) and consideration of planning approval (min 16 weeks) if required.  This could cost upwards of £1M.

-             Need to consider the ongoing maintenance and responsibility – possible concern

-             Note the area of land for the proposed ponds is in Betchworth parish – not Brockham.

Communication

-             There needs to be sensible communications with residents to ensure there is an initial understanding. It is important to manage people's expectations of what can be done

-             AT/ EC will share various communications with CM to assist.

-             CM will keep EW/Betchworth Clerk/ BERT updated and all co-ordinate accordingly. KG will write updates to be included in the Parish news and prepare a news sheet to cover all involved parties. This will be shared with village groups before issuing.

Confirmed and Possible Funding sources

* SCC Strategic CIL - £60K

* Future money from Tanners Meadow CIL - £60K tbc

* Parish Council CIL funding Brockham and Betchworth (TBD)

* Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) –  ‘wild land with tree planting’

* Dept of Education – for school flooding as school has flooded.

* SCC funding - if project meets criteria for flood prevention

Proposed way forward/ Actions

-             TP to help facilitate a training session for Parish Council and interested parties on how to engage with consultations with the public

-             BPC/Betchworth PC to contact landowners at the junction of Wheelers Lane/ Wellhouse Lane for SCC to discuss expanding size of proposed retention ponds

-             TP to lead on contacting residents advising of their responsibility as Riparian Owner to the ditches.

-             BPC would arrange to hold a meeting with residents, (date/ time to be confirmed), once Tor/ AT have made contact with all landowners outlining their responsibilities

-             HC would create a new flood forum and invite appropriate representatives from all the various authorities

-             Claire Minter agreed to be the key liaison point between MD at SCC and the rest of the group on this email.