Hertsmere at the forefront of flood reduction

Hertsmere Borough Council is leading the way in the fight against localised flooding.

The Government is now requiring local authorities to take a more central role in reducing flood risk in the future following the Pitt Review 2007.

In response, Hertsmere Borough Council's Engineering Services set up a Local Authority Pitt Review Forum to bring together key players and organisations to work out what has to be done and the best way of achieving it.

The forum consisted of presentations summarising the implications of the Pitt Review and taking the recommendations forward, along with a group discussion to consider the issues of funding, staff resourcing and joint working amongst others.

Cllr Jean Heywood, Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: "The Pitt review identifies 92 recommendations designed to reduce the impact of the increased frequency of major flooding events. Of the recommendations, local authorities have responsibility for implementing more than 20.

"An important aspect embodied in the recommendations is the requirement to set-up communication mechanisms to support information sharing between all the key players such as local authorities, Environment Agency, water companies, internal drainage boards, and county councils.

"Some challenging timescales have been identified for delivery of those recommendations reflecting the urgency for mitigating both financial and human costs of severe flooding. I hope this forum has gone someway to take our work forward."

Thirty-one participants from 11 local authorities (including three London boroughs), Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Highways and two external consultancies attended the event.

Sir Michael Pitt conducted the comprehensive review of the events surrounding the 2007 surface water flooding which took place in South Yorkshire, Hull, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Thames Valley. The resulting Pitt Review has given rise to a major reassessment of how surface water is managed.