Responsibility to close Exmouth floodgates given to district council following cuts

The responsibility of the highway flood gates in Exmouth, which helps to stop the town from flooding, has been taken on by East Devon District Council (EDDC).

Installed on the seafront, the flood gates are considered essential, and if they are not operated, up to 1,500 residential properties, plus numerous commercial properties, could be at risk of flooding during a storm.

They have been previously operated by the Environment Agency, but with them facing cutbacks, East Devon's cabinet decided it was no longer feasible for them to be the primary responder and in charge of closing the flood gates when storms were predicted.

Councillors unanimously agreed, at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, October 28, that it would be sensible for EDDC to be the primary operator of the highways gates.

They also agreed for a community group operating under Exmouth Town Council to be the primary operators of non-highways gates.

In the event that a storm is forecast, EDDC would receive a warning from the Environment Agency at least six hours before gate closures would be required.

With co-operation from Devon County Council, who manage the on-street parking on the seafront, parking would be suspended by ticket machines no longer issuing tickets, and remaining tickets timing out.

East Devon would then close the Central Route, via Alexander Terrace, with gates opposite Morton Road and the Eastern Route, via the Esplanade, with gates adjacent to the Premier Inn.

The Western Route, via the Esplanade, with gates adjacent to The Grove, would be the last gate to be closed, as it has the highest threshold, and once the Central and Eastern route gates have been closed, East Devon staff would man the Western route gates, only allowing vehicles out of the impounding area.

Once all vehicles have been removed, the Western Route Gates would be closed.

Once the storm, or series of storms has passed, the Environment Agency will then send out a message to indicate the gates can be opened.

EDDC will then open the gates at the earliest opportunity, the meeting heard.

In regards to the non-highway gates, it is envisaged there will be two separate community volunteer groups, one-based at the Camperdown area, and another based at the seafront, which will be made up of local people, ideally with at least 10 members at each location, who will be responsible, but should the gates not be able to be closed by the local community group, the closure requirement will be escalated to the council.

Andrew Hancock, service lead for StreetScene, told Wednesday's meeting: "East Devon District Council are geographically well placed to respond to close the gates, as the team best suited to close the gates are based at the Camperdown Depot within Exmouth.

"With a team being based very local to the gates, this will minimise lead time, so gates could be shut later before an event, and opened quicker following an event. This would minimise inconvenience for residents of Exmouth limiting closure periods.

"If the Environment Agency were to lead on gate closures, they would have a minimum half hour travel time to Exmouth. They also have close many other flood gates around the county."

There would be an implication in terms of officer time cost to the council, but Mr Hancock added: "The net cost to the council will be minimal, however this will be at a detriment to other work carried out by the council, which may need to be replaced with overtime working or agency staff. Therefore these are real costs.

"But if East Devon District Council do not take on the operation of the highways gates, worst case scenario is that no-one would close the gates, leaving Exmouth at significant flood risk."

Supporting the move, Cllr Geoff Jung, cabinet member for coast, country and environment, said: "The scheme to get volunteers to work on the gates has worked elsewhere in Devon and this will be very welcome for the residents of Exmouth to be protected from storms and rising sea levels."

Cllr Paul Hayward, cabinet member for economy, added: "This is a realistic and pragmatic solution to an ever increasing problem."

The cabinet unanimously supported the recommendation for East Devon District Council to be the primary responder to operating the highway flood gates in Exmouth.