Agenda item

The Assistant Director Environmental Health presented the report which outlined the Emergency Planning and Response work undertaken in the year 2023 / 24 with particular reference to the floods in May and September 2023 and subsequent work based on lessons learned.  The Assistant Director Environmental Health highlighted the following points in the report:

·        The Council is defined in law as a ‘Category 1’ responder to emergencies which places certain responsibilities on the Council.

·        The Council is an active partner in the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Resilience Forum and a member of the Devon Emergency Planning Partnership which provides support with specialist administrative tasks.

·        An Emergency Planning Officer is employed by the Council, based in the Environmental Health Service.

·        Weather related risks and incidents dominated the period covered by the report and it was noted that weather warnings from the Met Office are improving, supported by flood alerts from the Environment Agency, both of which assist with emergency planning.

·        Weather warnings and flood alerts are widely disseminated to assist Council staff and town and parish councils to increase local resilience.

·        Members’ attention was drawn to the highly localised flash floods in the Otter Valley in May 2023 and storm damage to the seawall at Exmouth caused by Storm Ciaran in November 2023.

·        The flash floods in the Otter Valley had highlighted that EDDC was responsible for the recovery phase due to the localised nature of the incident.  The response had emphasised the need for multi-agency partnership working.   The work done at the time had resulted in better engagement with the local community and increased awareness of the need for local resilience.

·        It was noted that recent changes in the Senior Leadership Team had resulted in agreeing a new weekly rota for the role of Emergency Duty Officer which will enable the Council to respond to emergencies at short notice.

·        Attention was drawn to the National Risk Register and the key risk of a national power outage which highlighted the need for resilience among local communities.

Responses to questions and discussion included the following points:

·        The Portfolio Holder for Coast, Country and Environment thanked Officers and noted how well EDDC had responded to the localised flooding incident in May 2023 and emphasised the need for local communities to have plans in place to support themselves during such an event.

·        Local community groups are key to resilience during emergencies and communities should be encouraged to start work on emergency planning if they had not already done so.

·        It was noted that Devon Communities Together provided information and support for emergency planning.

·        Local knowledge suggested that the localised flooding in May 2023 was exacerbated by water running off fields and lack of maintenance of drains and gullies which was previously undertaken by DCC. 

·        Better use of land management was discussed following the May 2023 flooding and should form part of the ‘business as usual’ phase following recovery from such an emergency.

·        Good local knowledge would be crucial in managing an emergency such as a national power outage as it would be very difficult to hold detailed local information on residents’ specific needs at District Council level.

·        DCC operates an annual or tri-annual cycle of gully cleaning with an interactive map available on the DCC website showing the last time a gully was cleaned.  Issues can be reported through the DCC website.

The Committee particularly noted the comments made with regard to the need for local community resilience groups and the concerns expressed regarding the importance of gully clearance.  The Committee asked the Assistant Director Environmental Health to emphasise the need for gully clearance during communications with DCC.

It was agreed to ask the Emergency Planning Officer to come back to the Committee to respond to the concerns and issues raised.

It was agreed to note the Emergency Planning work undertaken in the year 2023 / 24.

RECOMMENDATION TO CABINET

That the Council should encourage every community in East Devon to have a local emergency plan in place.