Flooding
Flood Wardens
Following recent flooding in the area a good number of people put themselves forward as Volunteer Flood Wardens.
The Flood Wardens have received training from the Environment Agency and Wiltshire Council Community Resilience team and have begun to draft Emergency Response plans in teams based on their locations i.e.: Shaw, Whitley, West Hill & Purlpit, Shurnhold and Beanacre.
If you have any specific requirements in an emergency please contact the Parish Council to let us know your details now; for example if you require an electricity supply for essential medical equipment (i.e.: dialysis machine) or have mobility problems. We can then ensure that the emergency services are made aware on their arrival at the scene to aid their priority assessments.
For more information on how to prepare for an emergency, including Flooding, you can take a look at the following websites. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the Parish Council office where we will be happy to provide copies for you to take away and read.
https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/civil-emergencies-flooding
www.gov.uk/prepare-for-a-flood
For help and advice in the event of flooding or to report environmental incidents, call the Environment Agency 24 hour hotline on 0800 807060.
For futher information call the Environment Agency on on 08708 506506 (8am to 6pm weekdays).
Click here for the Environment Agency floodline
If you are in imminent danger of flooding telephone 0300 456 0105 or out of hours call 01722 413834.
If you see any blocked drains or ditches in the area, please contact your local flood warden, Councillor or let us know at the Parish Council office on: 01225 705700, email: clerk@melkshamwithout-pc.gov.uk or report it on our facebook page.
Sandbags
The Parish Council are working closely with Wiltshire Council on the provision of a store of sandbags in the Whitley area for distribution in Shaw, Whitley and Beanacre on a “needs” basis to properties at imminent risk of flooding. This is a limited suppy which would be prioritised to the elderly, disabled and those with young families.
MELKSHAM WITHOUT PARISH COUNCIL SANDBAG POLICY
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Neither the Parish Council or Wiltshire Council has a duty to provide sandbags or other temporary flood defences to residential and business properties, although we will try to help where we can subject to supply and demand. It should be noted it is the property owner’s responsibility to protect their property from flooding.
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If you know your property is at risk of flooding it is strongly recommended that you make your own arrangements for sandbags or other defences as part of a pre-emptive flood defence plan and sign up for the Environment Agency Floodline warning system at https://www.fws.environment-agency.gov.uk/app/olr/home
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What sandbags the Parish Council has will be distributed on a ‘needs’ basis to properties at imminent risk of flooding. We will not supply sandbags to defend gardens, sheds, outbuildings or other such structures. We do not accept responsibility for the placing of flood defences, we will do our best to help property owners although manpower is prioritized to the elderly and disabled.
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We will not supply sandbags or other temporary defences in advance based on forecasts. You cannot collect sandbags from the Parish Council offices.
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Once issued, sandbags become the property of the property owner and it is the owner’s responsibility to dispose of them responsibly. Wiltshire Council can provide details of disposal sites.
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The Parish Council only has limited supplies of sandbags which we would prioritise to the elderly, disabled, and those with young families before offering to other householders and businesses.
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The decision to use sandbags to divert the flow of water away from properties as opposed to providing individual properties with sandbags will be made by the Flood Warden on call at the time according to the weather conditions being experienced. This may impact on our ability to provide sandbags to individuals and stress the importance of homeowners investing in their own personal property protection measures.
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We will provide up to 10 sandbags per property for vulnerable properties. Whilst the Parish Council will endeavour to provide sandbags, properties suffering repeated flooding should not be reliant on the Parish Council supplying sandbags.
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Whilst we appreciate flooding events are stressful and traumatic the Parish Council will stop the distribution of sandbags if their volunteers are verbally or physically threatened. The Parish Council operates a zero tolerance policy.
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