Flooding: LBH needs evidence

From Ickenham Residents.
we received this from I Thynne and were asked to circulate it I am writing to you as we are undertaking an investigation into the September floods and the next phase is to collect evidence.  The investigation is being carried out by the Council in its role as Lead Local Flood Authority.  below in bold is a letter setting out more details about the investigation.   Unfortunately, there were many properties that flooded or came close to flooding which we are trying to understand more about.  In particularly we are trying to understand the full scope of flooding and would therefore be grateful if you could share this with the residents you represent.     The investigation will consider the various causes of flooding and the roles of the relevant authorities, i.e. Thames Water, Environment Agency and Highways Authority.  The investigation will lead to a formal report being published around spring time next year.  This is likely to contain recommendations on how to reduce and manage flood risk better. The letter contains a link to the questionnaire where we will collect the information.  For ease of reference, I have included it below.  https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/13655/September-flooding

Date: 3 December 2024
Ref: LBH/Flood/23Sept
Dear Occupier
On 23 September the borough experienced over one month’s worth of rain in a day. This led to
widespread flooding across roads and open spaces, and sadly within properties.
In our role as the Lead Local Flood Authority, we are carrying out an investigation into the flooding and seeking to understand more the extent and causes. In particular, we are keen to identify the sources of the flooding and determine what action was taken by key responders and when. We would also like to understand if there were any post flooding concerns relating to the recovery and clean up. This phase of the investigation is about collating the evidence to inform a subsequent report which will result in a series of recommendations with the aim of reducing the risk or impacts of flooding in the future.
We understand the suffering that flooding can cause for our residents and communities and
acknowledge that this doesn’t go away once the flood waters have receded. Our investigation is an important part of the response and will guide actions that will hopefully result in a reduction in the risk of flooding in the future. We therefore encourage as many people as possible to provide their experiences and evidence to ensure the investigation is comprehensive.
To assist with developing our understanding of the flooding, we have produced a questionnaire
which can be found on the following link https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/flood-investigation. This
includes a series of questions that are intended to collect the required information and evidence
for the purpose of the more detailed investigation. We would appreciate it if you could complete the questionnaire by 12 January 2025.
The questionnaire also allows for photographs and videos to be uploaded to enable us to gather as much data and information as possible. At this stage, we don’t have full details of all those who experienced flooding, so we are writing specifically to a number of properties within areas where we have had multiple reports of flooding.
The questionnaire is open to anyone who would like to provide their experiences of flooding.

Flood risk: Can you advise?

From LBH

This is a reminder to all those interested that the Council’s Local Flood Risk Management strategy is out for public consultation.
The strategy is a key document in how the Council will work with residents, communities and partners (i.e. Thames Water and Environment Agency) to manage flood risk.
We are very keen to hear from residents on the current flood risk within communities, where has flooded before and where there are concerns. We are also keen to understand if the strategy is missing any information or advice. The Strategy will be a ‘living document’ and will be subject to an annual review but we would like to hear from you now so that we can shape the strategy to best suit our residents.

The strategy and consultation material can be found here:
https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/12238/Local-Flood-Risk-Management-Strategy-consultation

There is a structured questionnaire which will help guide the kind of input we are seeking but if you would prefer to provide a free response, please do not hesitate to send that to me.

The consultation ends on Sunday 3 March.

If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me in the first instance.
Best wishes
Ian Thynne
Head of Environmental Specialists
Planning, Regeneration and Environment
Corporate Resources
T 01895 55 8326
E ithynne@hillingdon.gov.uk