Beer parish councillors hear plans for an early warning flood alert for their village

An update on Beer Emergency Response Team (BERT) was provided by Helena Whitten at the November meeting of Beer Parish Council.

She reported that the group was in discussion with the Environment Agency flood resilience officer regarding the organisation of a flood awareness day in the village in 2021.

A start-up grant of £250 had been received from Devon Communities Together to support this initiative.

Helena said she was keen to encourage new BERT members to help facilitate a group of volunteers on the ground who could help in the event of a local emergency.

She reported that the Environment Agency (EA) was currently working with local landowners to introduce a range of flood management schemes and was also developing an early warning system.

The council agreed to ask the EA flood resilience officer to attend a forthcoming meeting to provide a further update about local initiatives.

On the suggestion of Cllr Rick Dormor, the council agreed an annual donation for TRIP and the Axe Valley Ring and Ride for a five-year period to avoid repeated discussions each year.

It was agreed to make an annual donation of £75 for both community transport schemes as long as the user numbers were consistent each year and not below 100.

Councillors also discussed the training and visioning day, which was scheduled for November but postponed for a month due to COVID-19. They were told the initiative would provide a useful opportunity to discuss the transfer of assets from East Devon District Council to the parish council, and to clarify any matters arising from the draft heads of terms approved at the October meeting.

Cllr Maureen Westlake expressed concern about the fact that EDDC would be under no obligation to take back the assets if the parish council failed to maintain them.

She also raised the issue of public consultation and highlighted how important it was for the local community to fully understand the responsibilities and financial liabilities involved in the asset transfer.

It was noted that asset transfer has been discussed in council meetings over a five-year period and regular updates had appeared in the parish newsletter.

Discussion took place and the council agreed that public consultation at this stage would be a useful way of engaging the community and raising awareness of the asset transfer process.

The chairman, Cllr Geoff Pook, agreed to produce a draft consultation document for approval at the December meeting when the council could formally agree a period of public consultation.

It was agreed to endeavour to consult as widely as possible with the availability of hard copy and online surveys.