St. Mary Bourne Parish Flood & Emergency Group

Members: David Peart, Clem Jones, Sarah Cooney, Tony Styles, Bridget Culley, Ray Randall

There is a lot going on with this group so this update is just a summary, but if anyone wants more detailed information, contact Sarah Cooney.The Group is currently dividing itsfocusacross the following 5 areas:

  1. Pathfinder Project
  2. Grant Application & Funding
  3. Emergency Planning
  4. Maintenance & Restoration
  5. Stakeholder Group Activity
  1. Pathfinder Project
  • This is DEFRA funded, and involves Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (BDBC), Hampshire County Council (HCC), the Environment Agency (EA) along with Parish Council representatives from SMB, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Upton and Vernham Deane.
  • Based on detailed survey work carried out by engineers from HCC and the EA, a report was published last year, detailing actions along the entire Bourne Valley, costed at £500k. The reportis on display in the Club Room in SMB.
  • We have worked with the above agencies to identify which of these actions we can do ourselves locally, and which there needs to be additional budget found for.
  • The focus in Stoke is on re-grading sections of the Bourne, de-silting under bridges, enlarging the size of the culvert at Jones Farm, and putting in earth bunds and sluice gates north of Stoke.
  • Numerous site visits and meetings have taken place with theseagencies this past twelve months. In the process we have developed very strong relationships with the agencies.
  • We are adopting a partnership funding approach with the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee. Monies have already been identified from various budgets and we are making good progress towards our £500k target.
  1. Grant Application & Other Funding Sources
  • As a Flood & Emergency Group we are constantly seeking to secure grants and other monies from a variety of sources.
  • This includes the HCC Community Fund, the SSE (electricity) Resilient Communities Fund, Vitacress, our district council, Veolia and the EA.
  • This fund-raising is helping us achieve some of the above actions in the Pathfinder Report.
  1. Emergency Planning
  • The Parish Emergency Plan is almost complete, and will be shared with the EA this year. The plan outlines what will happen in an emergency, and which vulnerable properties to keep an eye on. We are also documenting groundwater trigger levels.
  • Clem Jones & Sarah Cooney provide groundwater measurements & river flow observations each month for SMB & Stoke - which are published in the PC minutes. The measurement in Stoke is taken from Robin Mackenzie’s well. If anyone is interested in having these monthly figures emailed to them, please let Sarah know.
  • Part of our Parish emergency response involves the EA deploying a temporary defence barrier next door to The Lodge opposite the War Memorial. You may recall this being deployed in February 2014. On Wednesday 26th April 2017, the EA is holding a practice response and deployment operation. This will involve the erection of the defence barrier on the SMB playing fields around 11am. There will be more information in the April Hill & Valley, and everyone is welcome to observe the exercise. The Primary School have confirmed that some children will be observing the event.
  1. Maintenance & Restoration
  • Part of the reason the Bourne Rivulet has become so silted up is that we have not had a regular maintenance programme in place, and little restoration has occurred. We are talking to Ian Miller and Judith Beard from the EA, Ali Morse from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Rupert Kelton from the Wessex Chalk Stream & Rivers Trust about our options. A site visit is booked for the 29th March 2017.
  • The Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership (represented by Ali Morse and Rupert Kelton) is drawing up a Lottery Bid at the moment focused on the headwaters of the Test & Itchen – this includes the Bourne Rivulet. If successful, there could be additional funding available for maintenance and restoration works. Also this may provide funding for educational opportunities for local schools and colleges about the environmental and heritage aspects of our chalk stream. Watch this space!
  • The Sediment Pathways project (EA) has now been completed. This project identified points where silt was being washed down tracks and into the water course. One of thesites is at Green Lane, and the walkers amongst some of you will have noticed two concrete cross-drains as the track goes up past Burry Hill Farmhouse which divert the silt away from the Bourne.
  • One section of river that has been identified as needing restoration is along Gangbridge Lane (school end), where the road edge has been eroded by the river. This is a concern during flooding as drivers can’t see the river/road boundary where it falls away. We will repair and strengthen the bank using coir rolls and stakes. This has been done in Eastbury (Lambourn Valley). The EA and the Eastbury Village Warden James Potter are providing advice on this.
  • We are hoping to engage fisheries students from Sparsholt College and also to arrange working parties from the Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust to help us with this restoration work.
  1. Stakeholder Group Activity
  • We keep our district and country councillors abreast of all that we are doing – Graham Falconer, John Izzett and Tom Thacker. They are invited to our meetings and attend when possible.
  • David Peart and Sarah Cooney attended the annual Chalk Stream Headwaters Forum last year – this brought together a wide range of agencies and river professionals and there were a number of interesting presentations on water quality and water quantity, plus a chance to network over lunch at the end. We made some useful contacts there.
  • Clem Jones represents our Group at the Bourne Valley Flood Mitigation Group meetings attended by Flood Group representatives from Vernham Deane, Upton and Hurstbourne Tarrant. We are working together on the afore-mentioned Pathfinder Project.
  • Bridget Culley and Sarah Cooney represent our Group at the Bourne Rivulet Initiative meetings. This is a Vitacress sponsored group involving representation from Parish Councils, the H&IoW Wildlife Trust, Wessex Chalk Stream & Rivers Trust, EA and representatives from local fishery businesses. We discuss a number of issues including ongoing research on water quality, water quantity and chalk stream biodiversity.