Meeting Agenda:
Emergency Planning
| Meeting Date: | Monday 6 Feb 2023 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 19:30 |
| Councillors | Jon Aldridge Vice-Chairman, Angela Baker, Sarah Compton, Alan Damodaran, Alan Layland, Margot McArthur Chair, Stuart McGregor, Steve Taylor, Bob Todd. |
| Committee: | Emergency Planning |
| Venue: | Rickards Hall. 72a High Street Edenbridge, TN8 5AR Kent |
| Notes: | |
| Summary: |
Agenda
Minutes
Formal co-option provides non-councillor committee members with the opportunity to speak at meetings (though not to vote on decisions) and also insurance cover during activities. It is usually reviewed annually in the autumn, though the October committee meeting was cancelled. The current list of individual co-optees is as follows:
Rose Briggs, Ben Brownless,Paul Byrne, Mick Cross, Jill Davison, Helen Doyle, Bob Hart, Jan Hart, Mark Ilsley, Jim Kimber, Steven Knightley, Charles Laver, John Martin, Lesley Martin, Robert McKillop, Steve Mercer, Robert Peters, Vicki Raeburn-Ward, Malcolm Rogers, Richard Rooth, Colin Thurston, Richard Williams, Rev Stephen Mitchell.
In addition, Anthony Shipwright has volunteered his assistance as a new flood warden.
Do members support these co-options?
The budget and expenditure up-date to 31 January is attached. The annual radio licence fee of £112.50 was paid in November.
| Emergency Planning - Financial Comparison report |
The annual budget for the committee has been approved at £345 for the upcoming financial year.
During the last few months there have been a few alerts of possible weather events, which could have had repercussions for the Edenbridge area, but mostly did not deliver effects felt in some places a little further afield. The “walkie talkie” radios were charged ready on a couple of occasions, but not needed. The stand-by stock of sandbags at Mowshurst Bam has been replenished with a further 60 supplied by SDC.
In the Autumn leaf fall and very heavy rain caused some road side gullies to block, causing worry to nearby residents. Members of EEPC were on hand to help SDC with leaf and gully clearance
The Chairman and Robert McKillop have been in consultation with SDC’s emergency manager and Raynet to discuss our future communications resilience.
Fast mobile phone chargers for emergency use have been purchased, to be charged in advance at the time of a storm warning, as are the radios.
There are still a number of outstanding actions identified at the previous committee meetings
- Convene a multi-agency meeting including Kent Highways, District Council, Environment Agency, and Police, with the Town Council
- Investigate function of the Southern Water pumping station
- Arrange a residents’ information meeting, with Environment Agency
- Check the Environment Agency debris screens
A verbal update will be provided at the meeting.
Registered Flood Wardens have received invitations direct to join on-line “bite-size” training on a variety of topics, the first one last month featuring a speaker from the Met Office - see below for future dates.
The committee has not arranged a practical exercise for some considerable time, and the need has been identified through the Council’s Health and Safety consultant from Ellis Whittam/WorkNest.
Which members of the committee would like to be part of the organising team?
| Kent Resilience Forum - forthcoming training |
The town’s Emergency Plan is reviewed annually, usually in November, though updates are added as necessary during the year. Cllrs Compton, Gemmell Smith and Layland previously agreed to carry out this review, and report back any required updates.
Which councillors would like to carry out this review?
The possibility of producing a letter with advice and a household emergency plan template was being investigated, for distribution to properties in the flood zone, and to be in digital form as well as hard copy. Cllr Aldridge and the Deputy Clerk have produced a first draft of a communication (circulated).
The proposal is that a “leaflet”, w ith other attachm ents, is photocopied in-house, then hand- delivered (by volunteers) to households in the flood zones. The remaining funds in the committee budget this year should cover the copying, paper, and envelope costs.
How do members wish to proceed?
Each year two or three committee members carry out a check on the Emergency Planning equipment held in store.
Which members would like to volunteer for this important task?
02 October 2023 at Rickards Hall