Contact: Kevin Fuller, ext 7958

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That the County Council work with Winchester City Council, Hambledon Parish Council and the Environment Agency to progress solutions identified to mitigate the impact of ground water flooding in Hambledon.

(ii) That £15,000 be set aside from the Government Office for the South East flood damage funding to develop project bids to the European Commission under the Interreg 111B programme and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

2. Reason

2.1 To mitigate the impact of groundwater flooding to minimise disruption for highway users and damage to the fabric of the highway.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 The only other viable options are:

(i) Do nothing. The impact of this will be periodic disruption for the highway user and the cost of repairs to the structure of the highway together with emergency response measures.

(ii) Further development of a flood warning system. Measures have already been put in place by the Environment Agency and further expansion is possible as part of a wider and more comprehensive advance warning information system based on telematics. Such a solution may be encompassed within a package bid of other mitigation measures.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Background

7.1 In the winter of 2000/01 Hampshire suffered from serious and prolonged flooding following the highest rainfall for 230 years over a three month period. It is significant that this flooding was as a result of high groundwater levels caused by the unique geological conditions of the region. In Europe the only other region known to suffer from similar conditions of high groundwater are parts of Belgium.

7.2 There were 124 properties affected in Hambledon by internal groundwater flooding with at least 20 homes having to be vacated. The flooding continued for nearly three months causing the main highway network to become submerged with parts impassable, being effectively fast flowing streams. Apart from the flooding of homes the sewage system became inundated and vehicles moving through the flood waters caused further damage and nuisance to home owners.

7.3 Flooding in Hambledon is not unprecedented. The village has a history of flooding at intervals of about 15-20 years over the last century. The most recent events were in 1994, 1995 and 2000.

7.4 Since 1994 authorities have been working together to help mitigate the impact of flooding and the measures undertaken include the following:

(i) After the events of 1994 the Environment Agency set up automatic monitoring of groundwater levels and put in place an early warning system for residents that were most vulnerable. This arrangement was invaluable to parishioners and authorities in coordinating flood response actions during the floods of 2000.

(ii) As a result of the floods in 2000 the County Council spent over £100,000 in dealing with highway related flooding in Hambledon and improving culverts in the Worlds End area of this catchment.

(iii) The Parish Council formed a Local Flood Action Committee which was effective in coordinating and managing local measures to assist the community wherever possible. The Parish Council also worked with the County Council to put in place a model Parish Flood Defence Plan. The Hambledon Flood Defence Plan is contained as a working example in `Managing Flood Risk in Parishes' A Best Practice Guide. Published under the umbrella of the Hampshire Flood Steering Group this guidance has been taken up in parishes throughout Hampshire and is being promoted as a national model.

(iv) The Southern Water Authority has completed work on repairing the foul water sewage system.

(v) During the flooding of 2000/01 the County Council together with Winchester City Council commissioned consultants Posford Duvivier (now renamed Posford Haskoning) to undertake an investigation into the causes of the flooding and identify any mitigation measures. The Parish Council cooperated in this work by providing relevant information.

(vi) The consultants put forward a number of options to mitigate the impact of groundwater flooding and these are shown in Appendix `A'. The favoured option to secure the greatest protection with a maximum cost benefit (above one) is option `F'. This option entails the provision of open drainage channels within the highway and is estimated to cost approximately £1,400,000.

8. Future Mitigation of Groundwater Flooding

8.1 The partnership between authorities has worked well to put in place the current arrangements and it is recognised locally that much has been achieved. It remains the case however that Hambledon will continue to be exposed to regular and serious long term flooding. Groundwater flooding cannot be prevented and mitigation of its impact is the only possible course.

8.2 The County Council as the Highway Authority suffers significant cost to its infrastructure every time a flooding event occurs, notwithstanding the disruption to the travelling public, the incumbent highway safety issues and the duty of the Authority to keep the network passable as far as reasonably possible. It is in the County Council's interest as the Highway Authority to seek to mitigate the highway flooding in the village but the highway benefit is difficult to determine exactly. It has been estimated that on the return period experienced the benefit of solution to the Authority is likely to be between £50,000 to £100,000.

8.3 Although the flooding in Hambledon village appears mainly on the highway it is primarily a land drainage issue, not a highway drainage issue. The Highway Authority is responsible for draining water that falls on the highway but in this case the water is rising from the ground and using the road as a conduit. The County Council and City Council have concurrent powers for land drainage.

8.4 The County Council is not responsible for funding the full cost of any scheme to deal with flood waters in Hambledon but recognises that it will benefit from a scheme and any contribution from the Council should be in line with the highway benefit gained.

8.5 The Posford Duvivier report has assessed the cost benefit of the solutions based on the standard Government methods and for favoured option `F', an open channel solution, the cost benefit is 1.08. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) fund through the local flood defence committee flood alleviation schemes and a bid for inclusion in its programme may be made through Winchester City Council. Although the cost benefit for schemes to be successful needs to be significantly above 2 on a priority listing, it is thought that the Hambledon scheme may be put forward as a special case. It should be noted that a cost benefit above 1 indicates that there is benefit to the nation as a whole in carrying out the measures put forward. Hambledon Parish Council has assessed the cost benefit using actual insurance costs and losses incurred and has arrived at a higher cost benefit than the official method. However the figure is still below 2. Should a bid be made to DEFRA and be successful a grant towards the cost of up to 50% may be made, therefore other funding sources would still need to be found.

9. Sources of Funding

9.1 Currently the County Council has made no provision for the funding for any flood mitigation scheme. Winchester City Council also has no provision within its capital programme to fund a scheme in Hambledon in the short term.

10. European Funding

10.1 Although there may be the possibility of funding contributions from other sources the only significant potential funding opportunity is the European Commission (EC). Such funding is available for projects that tackle problems of European significance. Preliminary research has indicated the Interreg 111B programme may be a suitable scheme under which to make a bid for a project. Any project needs to be transferable, innovative and not just based on hard engineering solutions, and any proposal for Hambledon would have to embrace these features. Recent extensive flooding in Europe has highlighted the problems of flooding and more European money is being allocated in response to increased need. At present it is not known how this might affect grant aid for Hambledon. To progress bids as part of a European programme it is necessary to prepare a project brief, find European partners and register the project according to set protocols. This preparation is very resource intensive and it would be necessary to appoint consultants experienced in bidding for EC funds. Winchester City has secured £15,000 towards the cost of a consultant.

11. Conclusions

11.1 Life in Hambledon will continue periodically to be seriously disrupted and the highway infrastructure damaged by flooding if measures are not taken to control groundwater flows through the village. Each time this occurs the cost to this Authority will be between £50,000 and £100,000. There is therefore a highway benefit to be gained by introducing measures to regulate and control the ground water in Hambledon.

11.2 The most cost beneficial measure identified by consultants is to provide covered channels through the village at the sides of the road. The cost of such a scheme is estimated at over £1,400,000 with a cost benefit of 1.08.

11.3 Grants for flood alleviation are available from DEFRA; these are prioritised taking into account cost benefit, people and the environment. In recent times DEFRA has only been able to give grant aid (up to 50%) to schemes with an EA score above 20 on a scale of 1-44. The EA score for Hambledon based on the favoured option is less than 10, therefore Hambledon does not have a high chance of success and a special case would need to be made.

11.4 Grants are also available through the European Commission. Recent flooding events in Europe have highlighted the problems and more European money is being allocated in response to increased need. It is not known how this might affect grant aid for Hambledon.

11.5 It is considered worthwhile to progress a bid for funds to both DEFRA and Europe even with only a modest chance of success. However, the preparation of a detailed case for funding will be very resource intensive and cannot be handled currently within the existing staff resources by either the City or County Councils.

11.6 In order to progress a bid for funding from either Europe or DEFRA it would be necessary to appoint consultants experienced in bidding in these areas. A budget of £30,000 would be required and the cost of this could be split between the two authorities. Funding of £15,000 has recently been approved by Winchester City Council's Cabinet. Funds for this work from the County Council may be found from the Government Office for the South East funding for flood remedial measures which was allocated in 2001 over a two year period.

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