Agenda item

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, Councillor Connolly and the Bury MBC's Chief Executive, Mike Owen to the meeting who were in attendance to give a presentation on the Council's 20116/17 Budget Consultation and who had agreed to  deal with the following questions/comments and representations from members of the public present at the meeting in relation to the recent flooding incidents in Radcliffe :-

·         Councillor Connolly reported that arrangements were being made to hold a public meeting regarding the recent flooding incidents in Bury, to be held at the Town Hall as soon as possible.  Representatives from the Council, the Environment Agency and United Utilities would be asked to attend this meeting.  A date for this meeting would be published on the Council's website and be advertised widely across the Borough.

·         Mike Owen informed the meeting that the Council had particular statutory obligations to meet for Six Town Housing residents in relation to those who may have been affected by the floods.

·         A resident from Selby Close, Radcliffe raised particular concerns relating to their personal experiences of the floods.  This resident was still living in temporary accommodation and felt let down by the agencies involved in dealing with the floods, was concerned that the flooding had been exacerbated by houses recently being built on flood plains in Radcliffe and felt that the public meeting to answer questions and deal with residents' concerns should have been held immediately following the floods, not weeks later.  In response, the Chief Executive explained the statutory obligations held by the Environment Agency as opposed to Bury Council and that answers to many of the questions needed to be provided by the Environment Agency.  The Council Leader and Senior Offices were in discussions with the relevant Government Department and  a meeting had also been scheduled between the Council and Environment Agency where all of the concerns raised by residents would be raised by the Council representatives.  It was reported that the Environment Agency were looking into the provision of future flood defences in Bury but had asked for £3 million from the Council towards the cost of implementing a scheme.  The Council would discuss flood defences at this meeting.

·         Mike Owen detailed some of the emergency procedures carried out by Council staff as part of the Council's emergency planning response.  The Council had needed to priorities their response to the flooding.  The Council had secured a Government grant which had been passed on to residents affected by the floods in the form of an emergency £500 payment.  It was reported that DEFRA rules dictated the distribution of flood payments to residents, not the Council.

·         Mike Owen explained that the sheer amount of rainfall, over 1200 mm in such a short space of time had caused the River Irwell to burst its banks which had been the main reason for the flooding in the Radcliffe and Ramsbottom/Summerseat areas of the Borough.  Any issues relating to planning permission being granted for new housing developments in areas of the Borough would be investigated although it was explained that all relevant agencies are consulted as part of the process for determining   planning applications by the Authority.

·         A resident raised concerns about the flooding of Close Park and asked if the Council had undertaken a risk assessment in relation to the need to clean the equipment in the park from sewage contamination.  The resident explained that equipment had been cleaned following the 2012 flooding incidents and signage had been erected in the park warning residents of a contamination risk.  The Leader and Chief Executive would investigate the matter.

·         Colette Jones thanked all of the volunteers who had helped with the clean up.  Colette explained that it had taken 3 days for a Council representative to attend Close Park following the flooding, although local Councillors had been a great help.  Colette felt let down by all of the agencies involved in dealing with the floods and explained that a list of questions had been submitted to the Council and was awaiting a formal response to these questions.  Both Councillor Connolly and Mike Owen acknowledged receiving the questions and that the Council would respond to those questions it could answer, however, legal implications had arisen from the list of questions submitted which needed to be considered as part of any Council response. 

·         A number of residents raised concerns relating to the need for more skips to be made available on Waterside Close, Parkside Close and on the river side of Dumers Lane so residents did not have to cross the busy road with heavy furniture to access the existing skips on Dumers Lane.  Mike Owen gave an assurance that this would be dealt with as soon as possible.

·         Councillor Parnell reported on the volunteers who had worked on the Close Park clean up but more was needed to be done.  Councillor Parnell commented on the need for assistance from the Environment Agency with this.  A resident informed the meeting that a further clean up at the park had been scheduled to take place on Sunday 17th January, co-ordinated by volunteers from Mersey Basin Canal Trust who had assisted with the initial clean up at the park.

·         A resident raised concerns relating to the provision of flood plains in Radcliffe in relation to open land on previous industrial sites such as old Papermill site and asked if this was going to be considered as part of a future flood risk assessment.  The resident also raised the issue of dredging the River Irwell and provision of sandbags in Ripon/York St area.  It was reported that the Environment Agency were responsible for these issues raised and that they would need to provide the answers to residents and the Council, who shared these concerns.

·         A resident from Morris Street raised concerns relating to the 12 properties affected in this particular area.  Residents were anxious that this could happen again at any time and were concerned of the timescales involved in responding to the flooding by all of the agencies involved and in terms of action needed as part of a flood defense programme.

·         A resident of Ripon Close informed the meeting that a man-hole cover had been blocked on this road within the last 12 months and asked if this issue was linked with flooding in this area.  The resident also raised the issue of building contractors on York Street who had left the site without completing buiding works.

·         Gill Stainthorpe informed the meeting of the campaigning undertaken by Withins residents in relation to the goits, canals and reservoirs in Radcliffe over recent years which led to some action being taken to help maintain these water courses.  Help had been received from the Council in support of their campaign.  Residents needed to work together as part of a community response in dealing with these issues of flood risk. 

·         A resident raised concerns relating to the affects on property values and inflated insurance premiums for those affected by the floods.

·         A resident raised concerns about the issue of climate change and felt that the Government were not dealing with this issue affectively.  The lack of Government intervention in dealing with the effects of climate change would only lead to more frequent and greater flooding incidents across the country.  Following on from this point, another resident commented that housing develoopers should be required to install solar panels on new houses and asked if there was an obligation on house builders at present to make provision for solar panels.

The Chair, Colin Jones thanked Councillor Connolly and Mike Owen for addressing the audience on the issues raised.  The Chair also thanked residents for their contributions to the discussion and hoped that all those affected would soon recover from their experiences.

Questions/comments were invited from residents on any other issues during Open Forumand the Township Co-ordinator undertook to obtain a reply to matters that could not be dealt with directly at the meeting:-

·         A resident asked for a public crossing point to be installed on Church St West near to the Health Centre as cars were parking illegally.

·         Colette Jones raised concerns regarding to rubbish being dumped outside the old Radcliffe Times building.