Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transportation, Highways and Sustainability.

To consider the above petition bearing 140 signatures. The petition has been submitted by Councillor G Ridley, a Woodlands Ward Councillor and the Petition Sponsor, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item along with the Petition Organiser.

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Director of Transportation, Highways and Sustainability that responded to a petition bearing 140 signatures requesting that the Council pursued negotiations with partner authorities and stakeholders to resolve the matters relating to flooding of the Upper Brookstray. Councillor Heaven, the Shadow Cabinet Member for City Services, spoke to the Petition on behalf of the Petition Sponsor, Councillor G Ridley, who was unable to attend the meeting. The Petition Organiser also attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners.

In accordance with the City Council's procedure for dealing with petitions, those relating to flooding were heard by the Cabinet Member for City Services. The Cabinet Member had considered the petition prior to this meeting and requested that the petition be dealt with by a formal report being submitted to this meeting. 

The report indicated that extreme rainfall had occurred in June 2023 and the flooding on Sunday 18th June was being investigated by the Council, the Environment Agency and Severn Trent.

To help reduce the risk of flooding to date, the Council as Highway Authority, had carried out drainage improvements to the traffic island at the junction of Banner Lane with Broad Lane. Additionally, as part of this, the Council raised the level of the road resulting in less overland flow risk to the homes at Goldthorn Close. The Council, as Lead Local Flood Authority, had also carried out improvements to the drainage arrangements at Hockley Lane to reduce risk of flooding to homes and at the junction of Hockley Lane and Broad Lane.

Seven Trent had installed depth monitors in the foul sewers and surface water sewers in the area on Hockley Lane and at the junction of Broad Lane / Hockley Lane, which measured the depth of flow in the sewer network to increase understanding of performance of the sewers, aid ongoing hydraulic modelling of the sewers and provide advance notice of any blockages building up. Severn Trent Water also regularly cleaned their drainage at Broad Lane and removed large items of debris in August 2021 from the large diameter pipework at the Banner Lane junction with Broad Lane. Further camera surveys of the drainage were being planned as a part of their investigation into the flooding.

The Environment Agency cleaned the trash screen at the junction of Banner Lane with Board Lane to reduce risk of pipework blockage and also continuously monitored the depth of water in the river. 

The Council had been working in collaboration with the Environment Agency as they had been considering options to reduce the risk of flooding at this location. Land surveys of 77 properties had been carried out, together with surveying drainage channels to inform their hydraulic modelling.   Following the first stage modelling, the Environment Agency concluded that the flood risk was a combination of river flows, surface water and sewer flooding. Because of this, closer working of the Environment Agency with Severn Trent and the Council was occurring. 

The Environment Agency had ruled out a 23000 cubic metre water storage option upstream to reduce flood risk because this did not adequately protect the number of homes needed.

Building on the success of the flood reduction measures at Allesley and with the agreement of upstream land-owners outside Coventry, a means of slowing the flow into the river was being installed. 20 measures had been installed so far and more were planned in upstream land (Appendix A to the report referred). These measures were being rolled out nationally and were proving to be successful.

Officers recommended supporting the Environment Agency in their business case to reduce flood risk. Based on the success of the measures rolled out at Allesley, the most economical options would be Property Flood Resilience in combination with the Natural Flood Management (Appendices B and C to the report referred). 

It had been determined that the Council would continue to work with the Environment Agency and Severn Trent, in an effort to reduce the risk of flooding at the Brookstray, Upper Eastern Green.

The Petition Organiser, with the consent of the Cabinet Member for City Services, tabled a document setting out his concerns. 

The Shadow Cabinet Member confirmed her agreement to the Council’s commitment with the multi-agency approach to the flooding and the recommended way forward and asked questions and received information from the officer relating to the issues presented, including: possible future development/106 section contributions; a future report on the investigation into the flooding which took place in June 2023; data from Severn Trent relating to the depth monitors on Hockley Lane and the junction of Broad Lane/Hockley Lane; cleaned drainage at Broad Lane; the trash screen at the junction of Banner Lane with Broad Lane and camera surveys; availability of land surveys of 77 properties affected and measures installed to slow the flow into the river, installation timescale and cost.

The Cabinet Member thanked the Flood Risk Manager and his team for their work on the issue of flooding.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for City Services:

1)  Notes the petitioners’ concerns.

2)  Endorses the action to support the continued work with the Environment Agency and Severn Trent in an effort to reduce the risk of flooding at the Brookstray, Upper Eastern Green.