A presentation will be provided by Richard James (AECOM). Representatives from Wirral Council, United Utilities and the Environment Agency will also be available to respond to any questions raised.

Mark Camborne, Head of Corporate and Community Safety, introduced Richard James, Flood Risk Consultant, of AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited to give a presentation on the findings of the Flood and Water Management Act, Section 19 Flood Investigation covering the flood events from 22 August to 2 September, 2015.

Also present were Neil Thomas, Team Leader, Highway Assets, John Kinsella from the Environment Agency along with Barry Cropper and Peter Tallboys from United Utilities.

Mr James gave a presentation in relation to how the floods affected the Wallasey constituency area. He referred to the fact that there was little to no warning of the 1 and 2 September event as the Met Office had considered the weather conditions to be insufficient to trigger a National Severe Weather Warning. Both flood events had resulted from a significant depth of rainfall over a relatively short period. The flooding resulted from a number of different sources and mechanisms. All agencies and organisations were involved in responding to the flooding as the events unfolded. The slow capture and exchange of information may have limited the effectiveness and speed of the authority response. The Section 19 Flood Investigation had made recommendations to improve communications and resilience of the communities at risk. The full Investigation report was available to view at https://www.wirral.gov.uk/sites/default/files/all/communities%20and%20neighbouhoods/Emergencies/Flooding/Flood%20report%20August%202015.pdf

The Section 19 Flood Investigation had made multiple recommendations, including:

·  Developing a Multi-Agency Severe Weather Plan for Wirral.

·  Developing integrated catchment models.

·  Developing information capture and rapid sharing capability.

·  Promoting and fostering community resilience to repeat events through the provision of resources and partnership working with local communities.

Responding to comments, Mr James suggested that had flood forecasting and weather forecasting information been available a couple of hours before the rain and flooding, then Council staff could have been on the ground earlier to help people.

In response to comments from Members, Mark Camborne’s comments included:

·  The Environment Agency was now using a river level monitor downstream at Acton Lane and a revised trigger level to issue flood warnings.

·  Nationally and regionally a lot of work was taking place in producing predictive models and a hazard manager system.

·  Mersey Now, the community messaging service for Merseyside, would also be used for text alerts and he would provide details of this to all the Committee members.

·  The Council or the other agencies (Environment Agency and United Utilities) had been in contact with every resident who had been flooded.

·  There were a number of social housing properties which were flooded but worryingly the repairs undertaken by the housing associations had put back what was there before rather than incorporating some flood resistance and / or resilience measures.

·  He acknowledged that the Council’s response was uncoordinated and elaborated on new measures which had been put in place with the Environment Agency and he would like to think that the response to a similar situation would not be the same again.

·  The Council was working with colleagues in Sefton to secure 3,000 hydro bags which would be issued to all the properties which had been affected by the 2015 flooding events and it was hoped these would be available within four weeks.

·  Some funding was available from the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee which would be used to provide property surveys and give advice as to what householders could do for their properties.

John Kinsella commented that a flood alert system had been in place for a number of years but some people were reticent to acknowledge that they lived within an area that was at risk even though flood maps were publicly available documents. Mr Kinsella also reported that the Environment Agency tried hard to engage with communities through very many events to raise awareness of flood risk. Being aware of flood risk and signing up for flood warnings could help residents prepare ahead of a flood event and give them more time to react when a flood was happening.

The Chair thanked Richard James, Mark Camborne, Neil Thomas, John Kinsella, Barry Cropper and Peter Tallboys for their attendance at the meeting.

Resolved – That the presentation and comments be noted.