Monthly Flood Update Report from the Environmental Agency

/in /by

February 2023

I’ve put together an update on the EA’s progress so far and I intend to send an update on the third Monday of every month. Hopefully, that timescale works for you, but if you would prefer a set date, say the 20th of every month, we can work to that. I’m happy for anything in these updates to be shared with the broader community however you think is most appropriate.

Since our meeting on-site with we’ve been working with our consultant to ensure that our scope of work for an initial assessment includes everything it needs and is set out in a way that tries to deliver an initial assessment as soon as possible. A couple of examples are that we’re using some additional brought-in flood modelling expertise to help with the scheme, and we’ve also expanded our scope to include some of the options discussed in the meeting. This includes changing the alignment of the confluence of the Clay Coton and Yelvertoft brook and accounting for additional or different types of property-level flood defences. We expect to have the scope agreed in the next couple weeks, at which point the consultant will assign the resource to work. Once we have a resource confirmation from the consultant and an accompanying program for the initial assessment, we will have a more concrete timescale. Previously I have indicated this is likely to be the start of summer for completion of the IA. We’ve had nothing to suggest this is going to change, but as and when we get news on that, I will update you.

I also wanted the parish council’s thoughts on setting up a flood risk group. This would typically be an in-person meeting that representatives from the Parish Council, Environment Agency, Water Company’s and the Lead Local Flood Authority, with others, brought in as and when needed. I’ve set up similar meetings before, and they have typically helped ensure a focus on delivering something in the area. We would look to have such a meeting quarterly and ideally somewhere in Yelvertoft. If this did sound like something the parish would support, could we potentially use the same building as the Parish council used for the meeting last week?

Andrew Richardson
Flood Risk Advisor
Environment Agency