Council prepared for the worst

Civil contingencies report, which looks at council planning in the event of a major disaster, approved

FROM international incidents such as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and nuclear disaster, to fires at weapons factory AWE Aldermaston, the local impact of the last year's civil contingencies has been noted by West Berkshire Council.

A report on the plans formed to deal with incidents which can affect West Berkshire in ways such as delayed flights and safety aspects of its factories, as well as other events such as the Olympics, severe weather and even the flu virus, went before the council's executive on Thursday (21).

it noted how the council responded to incidents and what lessons were to be learned, as well as identifying future issues which may crop up over the next year.

Four incidents, the fire at AWE in August 2010 which saw residents of homes and a hotel evacuated, acetylene gas canister fires in Calcot, which resulted in the evacuation of 200 homes, and at a warehouse in Theale, which saw the closure of a nearby railway line, and the severe winter weather all warranted a response from the council.

These incidents resulted in debriefing reports which have identified lessons to be learned should a repeat of each incident occur.

Councillors voted to approve and confirm support for the training and exercise programme and approve the continued format of the report for 2011/12.