Wellesbourne & Walton Flood Action Group                            FRE0043

Submission from Wellesbourne & Walton Flood Action Group (WWFAG), Warwickshire

12th January, 2025                                                                        Stephen Kirk, Chairman

1. WWFAG is a group of 8 volunteers who meet regularly to plan and action NFM-related measures in the Wellesbourne and Walton catchment area.  Our objective is to minimise the flood risk to c. 150 properties which have flooded during previous major adverse weather events, including a care home and sheltered housing. Installing these NFM measures is labour-intensive and, as we are generally on the wrong side of age 65, we need more youthful persons to take over our roles in the future.

2. WWFAG was established under the guidance of NFF to "slow the flow" in our catchment area and now works independently, taking advice from our Agency partners and other Flood Action Groups. There is limited coordination beyond that, with the exception of the Avon CaBA organisation. A regional or national plan to tackle the flood hotspots could help to know that what we are doing is all going in the right direction.

3. Funding, beyond that from our own Parish Council, is generally hard to come by unless we have "shovel-ready" projects. These take a lengthy time to tee-up and obtain the necessary consents. Applications via DEFRA are difficult to coordinate, even with the help of Environment Agency and Severn Rivers Trust and positive outcomes are never guaranteed. It would be helpful to have funding for further advice on the development of our larger projects (such as securing one day per week from a Severn Rivers Trust Advisor) to make them “shovel-ready” for major funding Applications.

              4. It is time to stop using the "1 in a 100 years + 25% for Climate Change” flood event as a                 basic yardstick for any flood minimisation activity; if it ever was realistic it most certainly is now not   the case and even less relevant going forward. Our previous flood events- and the many “near   misses” - have unfortunately happened on a much more frequent basis.

       5.It is essential to stop any building or development within flood plains and to be able to     hold developers directly to account, not via their nominated third-party contractors; unfortunately   this has not been the case within our catchment area.

          6. Property owners in flood-prone areas need greater support in implementing resilience    measures. Awareness of available flood resilience solutions, such as flood barriers, permeable paving, and other protective measures, is still low. There is also a need for clear guidance on how to access funding and technical support to implement these measures. WWFAG is committed to helping raise awareness but we need more robust support from national and local authorities to ensure that flood resilience becomes a priority for all.

     7. It is time to recognise that flooding is now a national problem and requires a workable plan, with adequate funding and reliable agency partners, to minimise it. We know flooding will not be eliminated but there is the potential to make serious inroads into its reduction with a more coordinated approach.

January 2025