Meeting Minutes:

Apologies were received, noted and accepted from Cllrs S Compton, S McGregor, and B Todd, and noted from B Brownless, P Byrne, and L Martin.

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Resolved: that the minutes, pages 9703 - 9705, be signed by the chairman as a true and accurate record of the meeting

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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.

Resolved: to co-opt committee members, 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.

Members noted the position up to 31 January 2023, and that the annual radio licence fee of £112.50 was paid in November.

Members noted the annual budget of £345 was confirmed for the coming year.

During the last few months there had 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 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 Barn had been replenished with a further 60 supplied by SDC.

In the Autumn, leaf fall and very heavy rain caused some roadside gullies to block, worrying nearby residents. Thanks were recorded to members of EEPC who helped SDC with leaf and gully clearance.

The Chairman and Robert McKillop have been in consultation with SDC’s emergency manager and Raynet to discuss future communications resilience. A detailed update report of the issues was provided, including some of the non-radio options for communication with Sevenoaks’ Dunbrik depot. Investigations were continuing.

Fast mobile phone chargers for emergency use had been purchased, to be charged in advance at the time of a storm warning, as are the radios.

There were still some 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 (it was proving difficult to identify the appropriate section contact in the company)
• Arrange a residents’ information meeting, with Environment Agency

It was noted Registered Flood Wardens had 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 – future dates were highlighted.

The committee has not arranged a practical exercise for some considerable time, and the need had been identified through the Council’s Health and Safety consultant. An exercise had been held in November, based in Sussex but involving some Kent authority participants, the aim being to test partners’ response to a significant power outage. It was

Resolved: Cllrs McArthur, Gemmell Smith and Taylor, with the Deputy Clerk and Robert McKillop, to meet with Kent Resilience Forum and plan a local exercise.

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.

Resolved: Cllrs Damodaran, Gemmell Smith and Layland would carry out this review, and report back any required updates.

The possibility of producing a letter with advice and a household emergency plan 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 had produced a first draft of a communication (circulated). The proposal was that a “leaflet”, with other relevant attachments, was photocopied in-house, then hand-delivered (by volunteers) to households in the flood zones. It was noted the remaining funds in the committee budget this year should cover the copying, paper, and envelope costs.

Resolved: to proceed as proposed, to create in-house an advice leaflet with a household emergency plan, the exact content to be confirmed, to be delivered to addresses in the flood zones.

Each year two or three committee members carry out a check on the Emergency Planning equipment held in store. It was

Resolved: Cllrs Damodaran, Gemmell Smith and Aldridge, with John Martin, would carry out the equipment check.

No-one in attendance.

No-one in attendance.

No report

Members were advised that the group was developing a “falls team” trained through SECAMB to assess and assist elderly people who had fallen at home, and proved to have no need of an ambulance. It was hoped that the group would in due course acquire the lifting equipment to help the faller up from the floor, then to be able to make them comfortable

First Responders were also able to offer to the wider local community basic familiarisation training in use of a defibrillator, suggesting the Council could support this process by hosting a session.

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2 October 2023 – Rickards Hall

There were no new items identified for a news release