Isbourne Catchment Group – AGM Minutes from Tuesday 30th November 2021 6pm Sedgeberrow Village Hall.

ICG Group Members Present – Jem Williamson, Richard Wakeford, Sue Morris, Andy Thomas and Annette Dawson

Others Present – Wendy Bufton WCC, Brian Smith Environment Agency, WCC Liz Eyre, GCC David Gray, Tewkesbury BC John Murphy & Chris Short-Countryside & Community Research Institute on Zoom.

ICG Web members – Sarah McDonald, Richard Hunt, Paul Mahoney & Jim Goddard

Apologies – received from Jo Leigh FWAG & recorded with the Secretary.

Agenda

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies received – Jem Williamson.

2. The Minutes from the last AGM on 9th November 2020 were approved.

3. Chairs Report – Jem Williamson talked through the report inserted below.

4. Local Update – Wendy Bufton Natural Flood Management Project Officer Worcestershire County Council gave a presentational report on the considerable progress to date. This in-cluded a detailed description of the 129 interventions now installed along the Beesmoor Brook, Charlton Abbots, Sudeley Castle, Farmcote tributary, Didbrook, Laverton Hill Farm and Laverton Village. More work is planned at Sudeley Castle, Hoo Farm Laverton and a second tributary at Didbrook in 2022 and beyond, see full presentation attached.

Discussions and comments raised during and after the presentation included:

· How to engage with landowners? Potentially through use of targeted letters, access to WCC & GCC contacts & FWAG, plus utilising established NFM landowning cham-pions to invite others to see the works and impacts.

· Wendy’s post is now funded by WCC as their contribution to the project. This is in addition to the targeted £900k expenditure over next 6 years.

· ICG offered to sit on the funding steering group going forward, given the success of works within the Isbourne catchment.

· Flooding issues on roads around Winchcombe & whether the Worcester PhD student could help identify the overland flows causing the problems?

· Access to GCC tree planting funds as proffered by Councillor Gray from GCC. Tod-dington is a potential target, and this will be followed up.

· It was noted that at last year’s AGM 81 interventions had been achieved and now a further 48 (many larger scale) interventions have been delivered, totalling 129 across the catchment; a great step forward. The audience welcomed the on-going work and looked forward to further works as opportunities arose with landowners.

The chair thanked Wendy for such a comprehensive update.

5. Appointments for coming year were voted and agreed.

Chair – Jem Williamson

Vice chair – Richard Wakeford

Secretary – Annette Dawson

6. EA Consultation Draft River Basin Management Plans – subgroup to work on responses led by Chris Short with Richard W, Andy T, Jem and Annette.

7. AOB – None

AGM – Chairs Report from Item 3 above.

Last year’s AGM was on-line so it is great that we are able to meet in person and report personally to our stakeholders, however we respect that attendance at any public event still holds risks for some, so we will ensure that our meeting update is circulated widely for the benefit of those unable to attend.

2020 was clearly a challenging year for everyone and the Isbourne Catchment Group was no exception. However, I am pleased to report that the delivery team (Brian Smith from the Environment Agency and Wendy Bufton from WCC) were able to roll-over monies unspent when all activities were halted due to ‘lockdown,’ and more importantly make major strides on various elements of the catchment this year.

Whilst I will leave them to provide a full report, I must mention that some of us were able to join the team on a most informative walk-through various projects in May which showed the wide range of interventions across the catchment.

However, before that update it is worth noting that the catchment remains at risk.

· Extremely late on 23rd December 2020 Sedgeberrow was within a whisker of being inundated. The local flood group was out in force and all mitigation actions were triggered. The flood waters reached the bridge parapet which is normally the start of serious flooding but on this occasion the village was spared, otherwise it would have been a miserable Christmas for many. A timely reminder of the importance of the work that we are jointly undertaking.

· Whilst the team have been spreading interventions wider across the catchment, we sadly remain aware that some landowners still fail to understand the significance of the fully funded work being carried out and refuse access to their lands.

· Equally we remain concerned at the aggressive ‘ditching’ works that have occurred in Sudeley and feeder tributaries at both Dumbleton and Aston Somerville, which will only hasten flows into the lower reaches of the catchment.

· COP 26 identified the on-going climate change global challenges and whilst the ICG represents a tiny microcosm of that bigger picture, it helps demonstrate that if everyone takes their part that long term sustainable solutions are achievable.

The Environment Agency have also been busy in Sedgeberrow itself this autumn, undertaking channel clearance work. This caused some consternation amongst villagers, but the ICG was able to report to the Parish Council and others that this was necessary work to ‘speed’ waters through the village once they have arrived.

And finally, I can report that the works to date have been considered effective and as a consequence WCC will be maintaining the field officer post to continue this valuable work and continue to progress Natural Flood Management within the Isbourne Catchment. Hopefully WCC & the EA can provide a clearer picture of funding moving forward now that NFM is an established governmental priority.

So, I conclude by requesting that as a collective, we thank our partners for the works delivered by our partners, and we seek guidance on how the community group can continue to assist in delivery, critically reaching out to landowners yet to engage, for the benefit of all in the catchment.

Jem Williamson

ICG Chair