Council bolsters its approach to flood risk management
Forest of Dean District Council has agreed to strengthen its approach to flood risk management by dedicating more resources to inspecting critical water courses and ensuring their repair, lobbying and monitoring water companies, developing flood prevention schemes and exploring natural flood management schemes.
The agreement has been made to further reinforce the Council’s commitment to creating a better environment for people and wildlife, as well as responding diligently to the current climate and ecological emergency.
Councillor Paul Hiett, Deputy Leader of Forest of Dean District Council said, “The Council already provides more support to local residents and communities than is required to satisfy its statutory duties, including the provision of FloodSax and Hydrosnake emergency flood defences, which we distributed to at-risk towns and parishes throughout the district, to aid residents should flooding occur.
“With the urgent status of the climate emergency and its impact on our local communities, we are committed to working harder than ever to ensure the district is prepared and resilient in the face of extreme weather conditions that are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.
“We will be taking an even more proactive approach to watercourse maintenance, making sure we anticipate possible risks and act early.
“Vigorous monitoring of the activity of stakeholders such as Welsh Water, Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency, will also take place, as well as thorough consideration of any additional schemes that could further reduce the risk of flooding in vulnerable areas of the district.”
The agreement will see the Council taking a more proactive stance to carrying out inspections on critical watercourses and assets, with us working with the owners of these watercourses to ensure they carry out reparatory work, before watercourses become congested. This will make a significant impact and potentially reduce the risk of flooding in some areas of the district.
We will also work with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFA) to ensure they are meeting their statutory duties in areas such as highway maintenance, which can have a significant impact on flooding. We plan to lead and assist partners to draft bids for external funding and exploring Natural Flood Management schemes that other agencies do not intend to construct. Our focus is also to ensure that our opinions are heard through internal and external consultations with water companies and the County Council.
For more on our approach to flood management, you can visit our website https://www.fdean.gov.uk/environment/flooding/