The 28th AGM which had been due to take place at the Village Hall on Tuesday 9th June 2020 was cancelled as a result of Covid19 restrictions. It was decided that the Executive Committee voted in at the 2019 AGM would continue to serve until new elections could be called.

The collected reports of the various sections covering the year 2019/20 instead of being issued in printed form to attendees as usual were published in a booklet which went to all members as an insert to the summer 2020 association magazine.

Chairman :: Treasurer :: OIAW/Website :: Hall  :: Summary reports:: Flooding matters

WVCA 40 Years

MINUTES OF THE 27th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

TUESDAY 11 JUNE 2019

Present : J. Clark (Chair); D. Kett (Secretary); P. Trott (Treasurer); S. Morse (Walk Round); C. Morgan (Hall); N. Wilson (Communications); K. Trott; C. Scott; K. Howell and 57 members, and Cllr T. Davies.

Apologies: R. Kew; C Weeks, S. Dixon; J & J Hall

The Chairman opened the meeting at 7.35pm.

1. Minutes of 2018 AGM:

Proposed Mike Blyth and seconded Katrina Trott that the minutes should be adopted. Carried.

There were no matters arising from those minutes.

2. Summary of Reports:

Written reports from the Chairman, the Treasurer, OIAW Editorial Board, Hall Sub-committee, Environment, Communications, Planning Issues and Flooding Matters were submitted to the meeting.

With the exception of the report on Planning Issues (outline planning applications within the village; Welborne Update; FBC Draft Local Plan), the authors summarised their reports for the benefit of members present. In the absence of R. Kew and C. Weeks, the Secretary presented the reports on planning issues.

From the floor:

  • Madeline Close asked if the WVCA would consider having certain sites within Wallington designated as community assets.
  • Alex Reardon stressed that because of the cost of professional advice there was an urgent need for experts within the village to come forward to ensure that WVCA responses were well informed.
  • Michael Gwilliam drew attention to marked reduction in butterflies, insects and other wildlife as a consequence of removal of their habitat due to housing and other building development.
  • Maureen Reeve asked if it would be possible for the Hall Manager to have a greater presence at the Hall to ensure hirers left it clean and tidy when they departed. Concern was also raised about the condition of some of the long tables.
     

There were no other matters arising from the reports and it was proposed by J. Boulding and seconded by K. Trott that the reports should be adopted.

Carried unanimously.

3. Election of Officers and Committee Members:

The Secretary drew attention to a typing error at the end of the second line of the list of proposed executive committee members. It should have read June 2019-June 2020.

In addition, one correctly completed nomination form had been received by the deadline but after the reports had gone to be printed – Ron Hooper’s name was inserted at the meeting.

There being 13 nominees for 13 vacancies there was no need for an election, and O. Ellis proposed and M. Blyth seconded that the list of nominees be accepted. Carried unanimously.

OFFICERS NAME PROPOSED SECONDED
Chairman Russell Kew P. Evans D. Mancuso
Hon Secretary David Kett E. Sheppard M.H. Taylor
Hon Treasurer Peter Trott O. Ellis M.J. Reeve
COMMITTEE
Graham Boulding J.W. Hall J. Hall
Sally Dixon A.M. Taylor J. Walker
Sarah Hatten T.D. Young J. Hall
Ron Hooper O.D. Ellis J. Ellis
Chris Morgan A.P. Marney J. Warren
Sue Morse H.K. Jackson S.D. Jackson
Charlie Scott M.J. Reeve J.E. Hayward
Katrina Trott O.D. Ellis M.J. Reeve
Kate Howell P. Howell A. Baker
Nikki Wilson P. Wilson O.D. Ellis

4. Date of next year’s AGM

Next year’s AGM will be held on Tuesday 9 June 2020 at 7.30 p.m.

5. Tributes and thanks

  • Tributes were paid by both Chris Morgan and James Clark to John Wilcox who had died recently. He had for many years been the knowledgeable Hall Manager and a leading light of the gardening club. He was a well-known resident of the village and will be sorely missed. The meeting expressed condolences to his widow, Barbara.
  • The Chairman drew members attention to the fact that Jim Hall, one of the inspirational founding members of the WVCA, had, with justification, been awarded Fareham’s Citizen of Honour Award and the official citation was read out.
  • The Chairman thanked Arthur Hackney who was the driving force behind the village magazine (Once in a While) and who had announced that he intended to stand back from editorship and concentrate on the vital job of creating a village archive. The high-quality magazine plays such a key part of the WVCA community.
  • The Secretary thanked the Chairman, James Clark, who is standing down from the Executive but would remain on the Hall Sub-Committee. James was clearly a glutton for punishment having served before as chairman of the Hall Subcommittee and then returned for a seven-year term as chairmen of the Executive. James had chaired meetings with discipline and alacrity, ensuring decisions were made.
  • Both the Secretary and the Treasurer expressed thanks to Clare Weeks who is standing down from the executive after 11 years. Her knowledge and expertise in accountancy and IT was often sought by both of them and it is hoped that she will still provide help and support. She has also been central to the running of the fete.
     

There being no other business the Chairman closed the formal part of the meeting at 8.24 p.m.


OPEN FORUM

Began at 8.45 p.m. and was chaired by Sue Morse.

Swans and ducks

Cherry Harnott reported that she had been on swan duty for the last three months. There were seven signets and all were doing well and growing fast.

She had found a great deal of processed food on the river wall and in the river which was great for rats but bad for swans and ducks. This year, she had approached families who were throwing bread into the river and asked if they were aware that bread was bad for the swans.

32 families were responsive and agreed not to feed them bread and to try to persuade others to follow suit. 14 were dismissive and unwilling to accept the advice.

Rules : don’t feed them any processed food but use swan and duck food pellets which do not sink (can be purchased from the hardware store in Wickham Square).

Cherry asked that the Executive consider placing metal notices advising the public of the danger of feeding swans and ducks with processed food .

Film Group

Jon Sullivan reported that the Wallington Players were setting up a film group. This would be launched at the fete, where membership will be sold (£5.00). Films will be screened in the hall in café style – attendees could bring their own refreshments.

The first showing would be Friday 13 September, 2019.

Unsightly sandbags on Wallington Shore Road

Jayne Boulding asked what could be done about the unsightly sandbags on Wallington Shore Road. Charlie Scott replied that the WVCA was investigating obtaining a durable box which would be placed a little further downstream.

New fencing in North Wallington

Madeline Close wished to congratulate the contractors who had replaced the fencing and strimmed the undergrowth, causing so little disturbance to the traffic. Roger Goldstone asked whether strimming could be done twice a year.

Sue Morse explained that Highways had undertaken the work as part of the champagne wager. WVCA has agreed to fund £7,200 of the cost. Local authority cuts in funding explained why strimming was taking place less frequently.

Pollution near Luketts’ Depot

Richard Yorke raised his concern about pollution in the ditch, close to Lucketts’ yard. He had raised this with the public authorities but it appeared to be difficult to identify the source. Sue Morse reported that three members of the Environment Agency would be on the walkround.

Walkround

Sue Morse explained that the walkround would taking place on 21 June and for the very first time there would be representatives from the Environment Agency. In addition to their usual route, they will be walking up Pinks Hill.

Cost of public works in the village

Tony Norris asked what the cost of the Environment Agency flood alleviation scheme in the village had been together the road hump in Wallington Shore Road. He believed that the road hump was a failure as a flood prevention measure and that the depth of the river was a key issue contributing to flooding.

Charlie Scott replied that the Environment Agency had spent about £750,000 on strengthening the flood walls which it felt was good value for money. The agency did not favour dredging the river. There was a design fault in road hump constructed by HCC’s contractor who thought it was a traffic measure, rather than for flood protection. Remedial work is due later this year. Sue Morse said the hump would be part of the walkround.

Long-term aspirations for the village

Stuart Cox explained he had moved into the village two years ago and asked what were the long-term aspirations of the WVCA.

Sue Morse explained that change was happening and the WVCA would work to try to preserve, conserve and improve the environment in the village, thereby ensuring it was a place in which people wanted to live.

Kate Howell stressed the importance of community spirit and the popularity of Wallington Facebook page. She drew attention to the panto (2020) and other events.

Fareham Borough Council public consultations

Katrina Trott stressed the importance of participating in the local authority consultative exercises. She explained that a special edition of Fareham Today introducing the new Draft Local Plan would be delivered to every household. There would also be exhibitions and public meetings.

She also drew attention to the FBC on-line and other consultations – for example the current Have Your Say on Car Parks. It was important to look regularly at the FBC website, or to drop into the council offices, or the library.

This part of the meeting ended at 9.15 p.m.

Chairman

Since taking on the role of Chairman in 2019 the WVCA, along with the rest of the world, has experienced unforeseen changes to its operations driven by the COVID pandemic. As a result of the government’s regulations it has proved impossible to hold the AGM at which all villagers are welcome to attend and air their views. The Executive of the WVCA are still very keen to receive feedback on both what has gone well and also areas where we might improve. The Secretary’s report explains the process we intend to follow for this year and hopefully we will be able to return to a normal format from 2021.

The following reports contain details of the work carried out by the WVCA on your behalf over the last year, as well as the final accounts for the year ending 31st March 2020. My thanks go to all members who serve and volunteer to support the various committees and working groups, and to those who act as trustees of the WVCA.

As I write this report the WVCA remains in a strong financial position. While Village Hall revenues will be much reduced in 2020-21, we will still be able to provide financial support to village improvement projects and events throughout the coming year. Last year there were several events to celebrate the 40th Anniversary which were extremely well attended, and many were over-subscribed. The number of villagers attending the Carol singing around the village was probably the highest ever.

It is also important that the WVCA tries to protect the few remaining green spaces around the village. The Development Group are coordinating the objection to four significant developments around the village by one developer, two being for additional residential and two for additional Industrial developments. I would like to thank all the villagers who have lodged objections with the FBC planning department.

Over the last year, we have been focussing on how we can improve communication on what the WVCA is doing. This also helps us to receive feedback on areas which may be of concern to villagers. We have several new volunteers to help in this area. It was this group which also led the support to vulnerable villagers through the COVID lockdown by providing shopping and pharmacy runs.

The WVCA needs to adapt to meet new challenges and I hope this and the following reports give you a feel for some of the many areas on which my colleagues are working.

Keep Safe and Healthy

Russell Kew

Treasurer

P9-12 Year End Accounts 2020.pdf   P13 Section 4A Independent Examiner's Report 2020.pdf


WVCA HALL SUB-COMMITTEE AGM 2020 REPORT

Our aim is to maintain the Hall in “as new condition”

Improvements 2019-20

  • Interior Painting - the Hall has been repainted
  • Exterior Painting - the exterior woodwork of the Hall has been repainted
  • The Disabled toilet - has been refurbished
  • The Chairman’s notice board - has been refurbished

Hall Bookings

Our busy Hall is used by many local groups and those living in the village who benefit from preferential rates by being members of the WVCA.

Hall revenues remained strong until COVID-19 enforced closure on 20th March 2020.

To book the Hall (post COVID-19 reopening) use the WVCA Website www.wvca.co.uk or phone the Hall Manager, Geoff Knipe, directly on 07826 309186.

Outside Flower Beds

Jenny Jervis and her willing team of volunteers continue to take care of sourcing, planting, weeding and watering of the Hall’s flower beds. We thank them for their hard work in making the outside look so attractive. If you would like to help them, Jenny and her team would welcome you to join them.

Hall Manager

It goes without saying that Geoff Knipe has worked hard and continues to be very busy dealing with the challenging aspects of managing our very busy Hall, including being on hand to help and assist our hirers with all their various needs.

The past few weeks, from mid-March to the writing of this report, have been during lockdown - with the Hall closed to hirers - but Geoff continues to deal with all the new challenges and looks forward to the time when the Hall reopens.

Going forward into the next financial year, we are all trying to understand, and deal with, the many and unexpected challenges presented by COVID-19 regarding the safe re-opening of the Hall.

Chris Morgan (Chair) April 2020

POSTSCRIPT:
From the time of the Lockdown on 20th March the Secretary, Sue Morse, Chris Morgan and Geoff Knipe the Hall Manager carried out a great deal of work to ascertain and put in place the various procedures necessary to enable the Hall to re-open safely. The Hall duly re-opened on September 1st.


ONCE IN A WHILE AND WEBSITE

Once in a While

In 2019 the combined production cost of the three editions of the ‘Once In A While’ was £2881. With two print runs of 430 copies and one run of 440, this equates to a unit cost of approximately £2.20. Although this is up on the unit cost quoted at last year’s AGM (around £1.70) it has to be borne in mind that, as well as general cost increases, the trend of including more colour pages - as was mentioned last year - continues. Despite this, the editorial team still feel that the magazine continues to be a quality publication, both in appearance and (hopefully) content, and continues to fulfil its remit - to be informative and entertaining. This said, it must also be remembered that, for the last two years, production costs have been somewhat minimised by the pre-printing preparation work of Richard Yorke. Looking ahead, it is probable that his departure from the editorial team after the last issue will, inevitably, have cost implications for the WVCA.

Some of the production costs are, of course, offset by advertising. It was stated in last year’s report that we would like to attract a few new advertisers. Despite having gained one or two new advertisers in the past year and our rates continuing to be competitive, this has proven to have had no real effect on overall costs. When it comes to advertising, there is a balance to be struck. While we want to support local businesses by advertising their services, as well as offset production costs, too many adverts would possibly detract from the quality feel of the magazine.

Regular attendees of the AGM will recall that Arthur Hackney has, repeatedly, been stating his intention to relinquish the editorial pencil for the past few years. Having come on board last summer, I am pleased to say that the September 2020 edition of the ‘OIAW’ is my fourth as editor. I am even more pleased to say that. thankfully, Arthur has not stepped back entirely. Like any successful partnership, we have established a way of working which utilises our individual talents and skillsets. With apologies for the cliché, we are both on the same page. We, like many villagers, appreciate the importance of the ‘OIAW”, both as a local institution and as a physical artefact.

So, what lies ahead for the ‘OIAW”? On a practical level, Richard Yorke’s departure has left rather a large hole in the team. Arthur, in conjunction with our printer, has done a grand job getting the most recent edition ready for publication but, as this is the first edition without Richard’s input, it remains to be seen how efficient this approach will be in the future. Personally, my feeling has been that my aim is to keep the magazine ‘fresh but familiar’ and to have more interaction with our readers. I had hoped that our ‘Wallington Young Writers’ Competition” would have found at least some support but, despite a £50 prize donated by the WVCA, we received no entries at all. This idea may be re-worked and tried again in the future. Another feature which has been discussed is the inclusion of a letters page. All submissions to the magazine, including letters, are, of course, welcome. All submissions must adhere to the time-honoured rule of the ‘OIAW” i.e., no personal attacks or party politics. As editor, I would also remind all contributors that receipt is no guarantee of publication and that all submissions may be corrected and/or edited to conform to our style guide and to fit in with the space available.

Lastly, I’d like to thank all those who have contributed to the magazine in the last year. Cherry, for her wonderful photographs. The various organisers of the village groups for their reports, especially given the difficulties of the past few months. To the Executive, partly for their reports but mainly for putting up with my editorials… To all other contributors, thank you. And finally, thank you to the readers.

Steve Taylor (Editor)

Website and other Publications

Some minor changes to the website took place during 2019:

  • A new page was created to contain information about Welborne as it becomes available. This is as provided by Buckland Developments.
  • In response to a request from the Hall Sub Committee the Village Hall page was moved closer to the Home page in the interests of easier navigation by potential hirers. Some of the contents of the page were also highlighted where deemed necessary.
  • The latest edition of the Wallington Flood Emergency Plan had previously been published in February 2019 and uploaded to the website. The intended production of a shortened version laminated for durable ease of use had been unavoidably delayed at the time. However, the two-page version was delivered to 100 households in North Wallington and Wallington Shore Road in February this year. It was also uploaded to the website.
     

 As always, I am grateful for the kindly assistance of Mark Hobbs who looks after the website and who speedily attends to any amendments in the works that I am not able to do. He is also helpful with general IT advice.

Arthur Hackney

POSTSCRIPT:
In the light of major changes to Hall booking procedures and Risk Assessment models several modifications have had to be made to parts of the website giving guidance to users.


SUMMARY REPORTS

In normal circumstances the reports summarising the Association year would be submitted and introduced verbally by the lead person of the various ‘departments’.

That is not generally happening in this extended reporting period, the main reason being that in the early part of that year there was a review of the organisation’s working arrangements initiated by the (then) new Chairman, Russell Kew. This proposed adopting a structure which would group related activities under a limited number of headings, and which could then be undertaken by individuals, working groups or formal subcommittees. [See also Secretary Report in this edition of OIAW]

The proposal has been adopted to good effect, so that apart from particular specialisms e.g. Hall, Finance or Once in a While the reports which follow are brief summaries. Some of these are based upon reports given through OIAW articles.

Planning : Environment : Walkround : Waste Liaison Panel : Entertainment

Planning:
Welborne has been a watching brief only at present. The Chairman attended a meeting with the Buckland Project Team on the 9th May 2019. The report of this is on the Welborne Page of the WVCA website.

There had been a hiatus in the Fareham Borough Local Plan from 2018 and by June 2019 this was still being drawn up. An unwelcome development came about in January 2020 when news broke of a requirement to increase the number of houses allocated to Fareham’s quota – Reference the special edition of ‘Fareham Today’.

WVCA reiterated its opposition to the identification of proposed development sites in Wallington in the draft local plan 2017 and the additional sites in the revised plan 2020 (supplement). While we recognised the obligation on FBC to cooperate and help neighbouring authorities, together with the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework, we maintained that this was being done at the expense of Fareham’s residents and voters.

From March 2019, through the Association year 2019/20 (and at the time of writing in 2020/21) the main local planning issues have all been in connection with applications submitted by Foreman Homes. Some of these have moved on from Outline to Full Planning.

The Village sites affected are all greenfield in nature and most have been under threat before. These are Gauntlett’s Field in Military Road, the field at the junction of North Wallington and Standard Way and a field below the SUEZ Waste Transfer Station.

WVCA has written letters of objection in every case and copies may be seen on the WVCA website and/or in the documents relating to the applications on the FBC website. It is encouraging to be able to report that many residents have added their objections by letter or email. Transcripts of WVCA letters have also been included in OIAW’s in several cases.

Environment:
For a second year running traditional practical work under the heading of Environment has been sparse due to sickness and a general lack of willing hands. 

The annual river clearout had been scheduled to take place on Sunday 6th October. However, on the day the amount of water coming down the river forced a re-think. Heavy rain had caused fast-flowing, turbid water and depths greater than expected at a low tide. Consequently, it was not considered safe to proceed and the hardy band of about fifteen volunteers turned their attention instead to collecting litter and material that had been dumped at several Village locations.

One of the jobs that is usually carried out during the Clearout is mopping up any late-discovered Himalayan Balsam at the River’s edge. This was not possible this time but subsequently Mick Gore at the FBC Depot was asked whether the Countryside Rangers could advise or assist at some point. (ongoing) [See also Flooding Matters]

Walkround:
Full reports of the annual Village Walkround and subsequent results always appear in the OIAW.

The 2019 Walkround was held on 21st June. We were very pleased to have had representatives of the Environment Agency in attendance this year.

Hampshire Highways had won the ‘Champagne Wager’ by succeeding in the task set at 2018 Walkround – namely to replace the badly decayed riverside fencing in North Wallington. This had been scheduled as a joint WVCA/HCC project. The smart new ones look just as substantial as their predecessors, which had lasted for several decades. WVCA had agreed to partially fund this project in the sum of £7300.

Other topics included:

  • The state of the road surface in Military Road/Pinks Hill.
  • Hazardous parking on Military Road at junction with Pinks Hill. Suggestion of inserting wooden posts with reflectors in the verge.
  • Overgrown vegetation in Wallington Shore Road - drivers being unsighted prior to overtaking the parked cars.
  • Poor lighting over the White Horse Bridge – Residents had expressed concern about how dark the well-used bridge could be at night. 
  • Increasing incidence of blue plastic gloves in the river – bins at Sainsburys filling station not emptied frequently enough perhaps.
  • Overgrown tree in the river near village hall.
  • Security lighting on Fareham Industrial Park and The Gardens – increased light pollution possibly due to excessive intensity and misdirection.
  • Oil (emulsion?) pollution from Broadcut stream.
  • Repair of hump in Wallington Shore Road – [See also Flooding Matters]
     

Sue Morse has stepped down from the role of ‘Link Person’ of the Walkround after many years in the post - initially shared with and under the tutelage of David Walton. The lead for this very worthwhile, collaborative exercise is now Graham Boulding.

He reports that due to Corona Virus the 2020 Walkround was cancelled and after consultation with Fareham Borough Council the next one will be in June 2021.

This, of course, does not stop members of the Walkround team remaining vigilant and residents of the village can still contact them with concerns.

Waste Liaison Panel:
It had been several years since a liaison meeting had been called with the nearby recycling/waste transfer station located at Standard Way, and now owned by SUEZ (it was formerly SITA). The standard policy now is that the Panels are standing committees and, in general, if no untoward indications about a recycling plant are reported no meeting of the local panel is convened on a regular basis. No issues had been flagged up in this case but because SUEZ was a ‘new’ owner it was felt useful for WVCA to lay down a marker that we ‘maintained an interest’.

Thanks to the good offices of Cllr. Peter Latham (HCC) the convention was re-established during 2019, and a very helpful private meeting took place at the site on 19th July. It was attended by Cllr. Latham, a representative of the Environment Agency, Chairman WVCA (Russ), Ron Hooper and Arthur hackney. It was hosted by the Manager of the site, Darren Hewetts. Some of the concerns of nearby residents were aired and one interesting initiative was mentioned, which is the possible introduction of beehives on the perimeter of the site.

A full report of the meeting was given in the summer 2019 OIAW.

Entertainment:
Review of Events 2019/20:

The WVCA hosted a special event at the hall in December 2019 to celebrate forty years since the Association was started.

The event attracted ninety-two people, all dressed for the prestigious occasion! Many of the original founder members of the WVCA were present.

A wonderful meal and background music set the celebratory mood which was continued with a surprise “This is your Life” chronicling the WVCA’s history, with clips from past residents, various images and congratulations to the village from prominent local media. The evening ended with dancing late into the night.

Roger Goldstone, one of the founder members of the WVCA, created new original artwork for the occasion, a framed poster featuring this has been installed in the hall.

Wallington Film Club has proved a very popular new event, showing films in the village hall – it is hoped that once Covid restrictions are eased the club will be starting again.

Christmas events are always popular in Wallington. Decisions will be made in October as to the viability of the different events in the current pandemic.


FLOODING MATTERS

Wallington Flood Alleviation Scheme

To my knowledge only one or two minor works are outstanding to properties in North Wallington.

It is a great relief that the Road Hump, Hampshire Highway’s only part of the scheme, has at last been completed as it was originally envisaged. The hump was put to the test within days of its completion when an Environment Agency flood warning was issued (10th. February 2020). The hump and associated drains performed as expected. Tidal flood water reached as far as the hump but not beyond. It is 25 years since this idea was first mentioned to the Authorities.

On August 20th.2020 an unseasonable Flood Warning was issued on the heels of a passing hurricane. Lower WSR was flooded as far as East Hill Close as predicted. My Flood Reports are sent to the EA for them to compare predictions with outcomes. Tidal predictions are becoming more accurate as a result. I note that the flood warning signs on WSR seem to do little to deter motorists from parking.

Work on The Natural Flood Management pilot scheme in the upper reaches of The Wallington came to an abrupt halt when Southwick Estates pulled out. A lot of time and energy had already been invested in this scheme by all involved and detailed plans had been drawn up.

I believe that the only flood prevention work that is likely to benefit Wallington village in the foreseeable future will have to take place in the upper catchment area. There is an ever-increasing body of evidence that NFM can work to everyone’s advantage. I understand that new government directives will require farmers to address these issues as a condition of any grants that may be awarded. It may be that Southwick Estates are keeping their tinder dry until the situation is clarified. There is little doubt that the catchment area has considerable potential for simple and cost-effective flood mitigation measures.

It is sad to note that Himalayan Balsam is once again starting to dominate certain areas downstream from Spurlings Farm and through the village. It is noted that three stalwarts who regularly donned wellies or waders to tackle this invasive alien species in recent years, are with advancing years, less inclined to jump into the river! This plant thrives in water margins and dominates native species which knit the riverbank together with their root systems. Himalayan Balsam has a soft stem and root system which rots away at the end of the season leaving the banks open to fast erosion. The riverbanks are an essential component in flood prevention.

There is much that can be done as individuals or small groups to mitigate against potential flooding and much has been achieved over the years by the Environmental group. It would be good to see some younger blood taking an interest in river matters. It is perhaps worth mentioning that homeowners whose properties border the river have certain riparian rights and responsibilities, one of the responsibilities being the maintenance of an existing riverbank. This is of critical importance where the riverbank supports a river defence wall.

One example of self-help has been the building of a sump in a garden in WSR. which collects water seepage from surrounding gardens. A pump, financed by WVCA, is installed and operates automatically to return flood water back to the river. With a capacity of some 22,000 litres/hour.

This pump has already had a significant impact on surface water flooding but a second pump is needed to cope with larger tidal surges.

Richard Boswell