Agenda item

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment in respect of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2021-27.

A Member raised a question on the impact of the completion of the Thames Tideway Tunnel and whether, once this work was complete, the tunnel would reduce the likelihood of sewers backing up and causing flash floods in the Blackfriars foreshore area. Officers reported that they did not expect these works to have a significant impact on surface water flooding. It was reported that Tideway had undertaken some modelling on this and that Officers could look to share the results of this with Members outside of the meeting.

Another Member questioned why the Committee did not have, as a companion to this report, the City Corporation’s Risk Management Strategy, to see how the new Flood Risk Management Strategy might change the mitigation strategies going forward and how that might reduce any ongoing risk in this particular area on the Corporate Risk Register. Officers undertook to liaise further on this matter.

Another Member commented that she did not feel that the Thames Tideway works would resolve flooding issues and highlighted that Tideway had themselves indicated, at the outset of this project, that it would not deal with all of the flooding issues. Surface run off was also an important issue and necessitated the use of things such as green roofs. The Member went on to note that along the riverside there was a significant issue with drainage particularly the area around Millennium Bridge which flooded frequently. She underlined that the regular maintenance of street drains was extremely important. The District Surveyor responded to comment on flooding along the Embankment and at Millennium Bridge House and reported that Officers had carried out investigations here and found that the drain carrying this water went in through an electrical intake part of the building. With the redevelopment of this site, this defect would be corrected in due course.

Another Member sought assurances that this document had been cross referenced and fully aligned with the Climate Action Strategy which was going to the Court of Common Council for final approval later this week. Officers confirmed that the two documents had been cross referenced and that there were links to the Climate Action Plan within the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy document itself.

The District Surveyor commented that the Thames Tideway Tunnel project was principally to remove pollution that flooding can cause in the system where it was currently discharging directly into the Thames. It would not, however, necessarily reduce the overall impact of actual flooding within the City or prevent flooding in the system.

RESOLVED - That Members approve a 6 week public consultation of the City of London’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2021-2027, in line with the requirement in the Flood and Water Management Act Section 9 (6) which states that: “A lead local flood authority must consult the following about its local flood risk management strategy— (a)risk management authorities that may be affected by the strategy (including risk management authorities in Wales), and (b)the public”