Floods

Lincolnshire has a long history of managing flood risk from the sea and from rivers. Because of this serious incidents have been rare, despite the fact that 39 per cent of the county’s land area is at or below sea level.

In recent years, the county has learned from river and surface water flooding incidents. Arrangements were made to ensure that all agencies responsible for managing water operated together more effectively at a local level.

By building on these arrangements, and taking advantage of major changes in national policy, North Kesteven District Council are working closely with other district authorities, Lincolnshire County Council, the Environment Agency and regional Internal Drainage Boards in establishing a Flood Risk and Drainage Management Framework. This is a partnership designed to drive a strategic approach to delivering improved flood risk management all across the county.

The partnership has succeeded in:

• developing a joint approach towards managing flood risk from all sources in Lincolnshire
• coordinating approaches to development control
• attracting grant funding and contributing to national policy on flooding.

The Pitt Review and the Flood and Water Management Act move national policy from a flood defence posture to one of proactive, ongoing flood risk management.

Our first priority was to agree how we could cooperate to meet this challenge, and to develop the political and managerial will to turn this consensus into an agreed methodology.

The partnership framework is designed to:

• embed delivery of the new Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) role in the full range of flood risk management activity in Lincolnshire
• facilitate effective coordination between local partners to deliver the local Flood Management Plan.

The Strategy Board, chaired by the EA, is intended to act as a high-level ‘policy development’ group. Its duties include ensuring strong linkages between the management of surface water flood risk with the risk from main rivers and the sea, and setting countywide flood management investment priorities.

The Operational Management Group, chaired by the LLFA, facilitates partnership activity, and ensures effective delivery of the agreed flood risk management programmes, projects and general development control.

Local delivery groups - building on the local drainage groups established after the 2007 floods - provide the focus for partnership delivery at local level.

Key outcomes include:

• improved and integrating the management of flood risk experienced by local communities, for example, providing solutions to local flooding as well as ensuring the best possible intent of management by engaging with Catchment Flood Management Plan development
• clear, transparent responsibility for managing surface water flood risk, where previously there was no overall accountability
• more efficient use of each organisation’s resources, taking advantage of greater flexibility to work together on each others behalf, for example, sharing resources between the EA, local authorities and IDBs
• consistent response, coordination and control across the county, through establishment and implementation of agreed and adopted sustainable drainage schemes (SUDS) and flood resilience measures for all new development
• coordinated response to national consultation, such as responding to the draft Flood and Water Management Bill
• coordinated bidding for available funding and resources
• established a permanent mechanism for linking the coastal and fluvial work of the EA with a more localised agenda in terms of surface water.

It is imperative that the community take steps to avoid blockages by not dumping rubbish or obstructing the flow of water in other ways.