Issue - meetings
Recommendations from the Executive Cabinet
Meeting: 20/04/2022 - Council (Item 107)
107 Recommendations from the Cabinet 
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To consider the recommendations from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 30th March 2022.
Minutes:
Members considered recommendations arising from the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 30th March 2022.
Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation
The Leader presented a report on the subject of the Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation.
Members were asked to note that this report was being presented in a context in which the climate was changing and there had been an increase in the number of flooding events. To help mitigate this and maintain healthy water courses, North Worcestershire Water Management (NWWM) had been working on a maintenance schedule for all the water courses within Bromsgrove District.
The Council owned approximately 8 km of watercourses, primarily through recreational areas and adopted open spaces. In addition, NWWM, on behalf of the Council, inspected and maintained several un-registered stretches of watercourses. This brought the total length of watercourses maintained for Bromsgrove to over 9 km. Keeping these watercourses well maintained would benefit the community and create an excellent habitat for wildlife including protected species, such as native crayfish, water voles, great crested newts, and nesting birds.
The aim of the plan was to proactively schedule routine inspections and maintenance of each section of a watercourse, to improve both the flood risk and the ecology. The first year was to be viewed as a pilot where there was likely to be more emphasis on inspections. Some activities might need to be undertaken more or less frequently, depending upon the season, and this could be refined over time.
The contractor would not replace the Parks and Place teams, who would still be responsible for wider landscaping maintenance and litter picking. In addition, NWWM would continue to routinely inspect sites on a frequency determined by the potential flood risk of each site. The estimated cost to the Council would be in the region of £45,000 per year.
The Leader concluded by commenting that she believed that the implementation of this plan would significantly improve the flood risk from water courses in the District and also benefit the wildlife that depended on them.
Members subsequently discussed the report in detail and in so doing welcomed the proposed action to address flooding in the District. It was noted that this followed flooding in recent years in parts of the District, including Wythall, which had had a devastating impact on the local community. The extension of the NWWM’s work to undertake inspections of additional sites, including in Beoley and Hagley, was also welcomed and Members commented that flooding was increasingly a risk in areas that had not previously been affected by the phenomena.
During consideration of this item, Members noted that flooding had been the focus of a recent scrutiny Task Group. The report had also been pre-scrutinised at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board. Members noted that it was important to ensure that action was monitored. For this reason, the Overview and Scrutiny Board would be revisiting the subject in a year’s time when the impact of the planned works would be considered alongside the ... view the full minutes text for item 107