Issue - meetings

The report is presented as an update on the Council’s Engineering Service Area and explores the issues addressed in the preceding year and outlines matters that have arisen, or are foreseen for the coming year, across the service area.

Specific matters relating to the Pagham coastal defences, River Arun Internal Drainage Board, Community Flood Fund and Defra / Environment Agency recently published documents are included.  This report also recommends that the Council considers designating a Coastal Change Management Area. 

The report also seeks to request future budgetary provision for a number of these matters particularly proposed future expenditure at Pagham and a continuation of the Community Flood Fund.

The Cabinet Member for Technical Services, Councillor Stanley, introduced the Engineering Services Annual Review for 2020 confirming that this covered all aspects of the Engineering Service for the past year as well as identifying the issues lying ahead.

Councillor Stanley stated that there were several issues that involved consideration of significant financial sums and he invited the Group Head of Technical Services and the Engineering Services Manager to highlight the most important issues and to answer questions from Members.  

            The Engineering Services Manager explained that the report looked at the Council’s engineering services operations looking both backwards and forwards.  He referred to the Community Flood Fund which had benefited a range of schemes on the coast and inland worth around £10m across the District.  The report sought a modest top up to that fund which would enable the Council to continue to bring forward much needed works by the Council and its partners.  Turning to Pagham, the report set out how the Council had managed the situation following the natural breach and regrowth of the spit which was the underlying problem in the area.  The Council was continuing with the adaptive management approach but outlined that it should be noted that the current method of reducing risk to life and property relied very heavily on there being a reliable source of shingle and other various constraints.  Accordingly, the Council was looking at all other options with its partners and outlined that the recently announced Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Fund would be explored.  Regarding the Coastal Change Management Area, this was an investigatory way forward and it was outlined that the Council was not proposing a (CCMA) at this time, as this was not a straightforward process.  The Engineering Services Manager then mentioned the other aspects of the section’s work being internal drainage boards and issues surrounding the River Arun IDB. 

The Chairman invited Cabinet debate.  Cabinet welcomed the report and although had heard that a CCMA would not be introduced at this time, felt that the Council needed to investigate this with some urgency in view of climate change emergency measures. 

            Points raised by non-Cabinet Councillors related to Climping and a further update was requested.  The Chairman reminded Councillors that the Climping frontage was the responsibility of the Environment Agency (EA) and not the Council, though the Council was in constant dialogue with the EA in terms of pushing forward a resolution to this matter.  The Engineering Services Manager outlined that work behind the scenes had explored all ways that the Littlehampton Economic Growth Area (LEGA) scheme could contribute and that other methods of providing the defence in terms of a ‘mini Medmerry’, similar to that at Selsey was being investigated, although the Climping topography was not favourable in that respect. The Council was also looking to see if the Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Programme could assist.

            Questions were also asked about Elmer and whether the provision of boulders over the years had improved the situation.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 257