Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Flood Management Working Party on 15 November 2022 were approved.

Voting record

Agreed by general affirmation

Gary Collins, Flood & Coastal Risk & Engagement Manager, will provide an update on Yorkshire Water investment plans for permanent solutions

Gary Collins from Yorkshire Water attended the meeting for the discussion of this item.

An verbal update was provided to the working party on the delays to the progress of works in Norton and Brawby.

Points raised by members included:

·         The concern that project were being pushed back to the next AMP period and the delays to the progress of works (April 2025).

·         Residents anxieties surrounding lack of pump deployment in early January with river levels having been high. Why were pumps not deployed during this time as they had been in November?

·         Higher levels of investment being needed in infrastructure such as combined systems.

·         Could Yorkshire water provide a figure for sewer discharge into the River Derwent?

Yorkshire Water provided the following statement on Fracking:

Yorkshire Water’s Position On Fracking

Our primary concern is making sure the people of Yorkshire always enjoy the safest drinking water. With that in mind, shale gas extraction is an issue that we consider to be of strategic importance to our water and wastewater services. We have developed this policy position following an assessment of the best available information of relevant issues, threats and opportunities.

Yorkshire Water is now a statutory consultee on planning or permit applications for shale gas exploration or extraction. Our primary concern is making sure that where fracking does occur it is done safely and has no impact on water supplies. To ensure water supplies are protected we set high thresholds which must be met before we can consider supporting any proposed development.

There are two key issue to consider the impact of fracking on – water quality and water supplies:

Water quality

With the high levels of regulation from Government, HSE, Environment Agency, Planning Authorities and close observation by water companies the construction and operation of shale gas wells has a low risk of adverse impact on water quality.  Flowback and produced water from shale gas operations are unlikely to differ significantly from produced water from ‘conventional’ oil and gas production. There is great deal of experience in safely handing this material and the Environment Agency would regulate any waste disposal from fracking operations. Prior to agreeing to receive waste water from shale gas operations, we will ensure that it is treatable to the appropriate standards and will not harm the water environment into which it is discharged.

Water supplies

All water companies have an obligation to offer a water supply to any legally operating company in their area. As a consequence of our obligations we need to consider the implications on water supplies. The water demand for shale gas exploration, hydraulic fracturing and during production is well within our water management plan forecasts. It is a very small proportion of our overall production and it is likely that we will not supply all the water needs of these operations. Yorkshire Water produces 1.2 billion litres of water every day. The likely peak water demand for shale gas is around 2.2 million litres per day, or less that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

a.    Request for annual contribution of £5,000 (Appendix 1 and 2)

b.    John Cave, River Derwent Partnership Officer, will provide an overview on the Fryton feasibility study, including a funding request (Appendix 3).

John Cave from Yorkshire Derwent Catchment Partnership attended the meeting for the discussion of this item.

Both the request for an annual contribution of £5,000 to Yorkshire Derwent Catchment Partnership and  a contribution towards the Fryton feasibility study were shared with members.

Points raised by elected members included:

·         Concerns surrounding whether this annual contribution would continue into the new authority.

·         The support for the 5 aims of the partnership.

·         The support for Natural Flood Management practices.

·         The benefit of talking to community groups, and whether the residents of Fryton would get the opportunity to be included in discussions.

Considered – Briefing document of the Head of Waste and Environment.

Voting record

Unanimous

Voting record

Unanimous

Update on the Action Tracker

The Head of Waste and Environment provided a verbal update on the live action tracking for the working party which would be circulated with the minutes.  At the next meeting on 6 March details of how all live actions will be taken forward by the new North Yorkshire Council or other partner agencies would be an agenda item and a colleague from NYCC Flood Risk would also attend the meeting to provide an update on their work beyond 1 April 2023.

The action tracker spreadsheet can be found in Annex 1.

Monday 6 March 2023 (changed from Tuesday 7 March 2023).

Members agreed the next meeting to be held on 6 March 2023.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 8:37pm.