Agenda item - Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation - pre-scrutiny (Report to follow)

Agenda item

Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operation - pre-scrutiny (Report to follow)

This report will follow in a Supplementary Papers pack once the report has been published for consideration of the Cabinet.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the Senior Water Management Officer from North Worcestershire Water Management (NWWM) to the meeting who gave a detailed presentation regarding the Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operations. During the presentation Members’ attention was drawn to the following:

 

·       Bromsgrove District Council owned just under 8km of watercourses, primarily through recreation grounds. The Council was considered a riparian owner and under the Land Drainage Act 1991 was legally required to maintain the flow of water in a channel. Officers reported that it was important for the Council to lead by example with managing the flood risk particularly in respect of private landowners to mitigate any issues on private land. Historically, the Parks and Place team carried out maintenance of the watercourses on an ad-hoc basis, however it was reported that delays were sometimes experienced due to the capacity of the team or if there was a greater need experienced in other areas of their workload.

·       The importance of maintenance best practice was highlighted to the Board, and it was explained that vegetation was a natural part of a healthy watercourse as it provided shade, bank stability, a source of food and filtered sediment. Aesthetics were not the main reasons for watercourse maintenance it was more to do with flood risk and maintenance of the ecology. This was particularly important in light of the recent discovery of water voles by officers in some watercourses in the district. These animals were listed as critically endangered in England and they and their habitats were protected by law. It was noted that Environmental Services Operatives were provided with training in order to identify evidence of water voles’ presence at any watercourse. 

·       Himalayan Balsam was an invasive non-native plant that caused many problems across watercourses throughout the UK. The management of Himalayan Balsam was labour and time intensive.

·       Although most of the work undertaken by the Place and Parks team was carried out to a high standard an example was presented to the Board outlining an instance when best practice guidelines had not been followed by operatives. This had resulted in further work, extra expenditure and engagement of an external contractor. It was hoped that this schedule of works would help to avoid instances like this in the future.

 

After the presentation, Councillor R. Hunter was invited to speak as the Chairman of the Impact of Flooding in the District Task Group. He stated that this report was welcomed,however, he expressed concern regarding the engagement of an external contractor rather than creating an opportunity to carry out the maintenance work in-house. He noted that this way forward would not only create extra roles within the Council but would ensure greater control of any maintenance. Councillor R. Hunter proposed an additional recommendation regarding the potential of carrying out the work in-house. The proposal was not seconded.

 

In response to this, Councillor M. Sherrey who was in attendance as the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety commented that recommendations contained within the report provided a more cost effective way of ensuring that the watercourses were maintained regularly. In addition to this, the engagement of an external contractor would ensure flexibility in carrying out the works. The Board were informed that this was to be considered as a pilot scheme and could be reviewed after the first year had been completed. It was with this in mind that the Chairman requested that a verbal update item be placed on the Board’s work programme for consideration once the first year of the contract had been completed in order to ascertain the success of the maintenance.

 

Members asked some questions regarding the maintenance of specific watercourses in the district including Sanders Park and the Balancing Pond on the Oakalls. Officers undertook to provide this information to the Board. Other queries from Members included whether the external contractor would be assessed accordingly to ensure they had not provided unsatisfactory work to the Council previously. Members were reassured that the procurement process was currently underway and was robust. The Board were also interested in understanding the process of enforcement taken in respect of private landowners who did not maintain their watercourse thus impacting on the surrounding area. It was reported that officers always tried to work with landowners before commencing enforcement proceedings. However, if this was not successful a formal enforcement process could be initiated. 

 

RESOLVED that the Land Drainage Watercourse Maintenance Operations be noted.

 

 

Supporting documents: