Communication key to reducing impact of future flooding, says council

An extraordinary meeting of West Berkshire Council’s overview and scrutiny committee was held on Thursday to investigate the response of the council and other bodies such as the Environment Agency and Thames Water to the severe flooding that hit the district earlier this year.
It followed a survey compiled by the council into how residents felt the flood situation was handled, and if there was adequate information made available to them.
In total, 229 residents responded to the consultation, around 3.5 per cent of West Berkshire’s population, and only six businesses.
Civil contingencies manager, Carolyn Richardson, said the responses highlighted the need for a self-help model to flooding.
“Its intention is to build on community spirit that’s already here,” she said. “People are more engaged in the process if they have experienced flooding.
“Sometimes there’s the feeling that ‘it won’t happen to us’ - there’s reluctance in some communities to do something about it and be prepared. People think ‘the council will do that’.
“In 2007 people wanted to help themselves but didn’t know how to do it, so we are building on that.”
The flood warden scheme could also be extended to provide ‘community resilience volunteers’, who would provide assistance during a range of community incidents rather than being solely focused on flooding.
The survey responses also revealed that residents were unsure which organisation to contact for the different aspects of flooding.
Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) suggested one dedicated flooding hotline should be created, in which the caller could select from a number of options and be directed to the relevant agency, for example to report sewage issues, groundwater flooding and for information on sandbags.
West Berkshire Council’s principal engineer, Stuart Clark, said one of the main barriers to communication was convincing residents that anyone could be at risk.
“If you live near watercourses you appreciate that there’s risk, but not so much for those who were affected by ground water or surface water flooding,” he said. “There is still this idea that we should be preventing flooding but we have got to persuade people that they need to adapt to flooding and make their own preventions and their own plans.
“There’s only so much that we as a council can do. If they don’t see themselves as at particular risk they aren’t going to register this information.
“People also incorrectly assume that when flood defences are put in place there’s no risk of flooding.
“Flooding is screaming for its own communication strategy. The communication needs to be relentless and persistent.”
Another meeting into the matter is being held on Tuesday, September 30 at 6.30pm, at West Berkshire Council’s Market Street office.