Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director of City Development which provides details of flooding issues in the Otley area, requests authority to submit the Outline Business Case & Planning Application as detailed, requests authority to incur required expenditure and which highlights the current funding shortfall and seeks support for additional funding to be sought.

(Please note that Appendix D to this report is designated as being exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3))

The Director of City Development submitted a report which presented details of flooding issues in the Otley area, requested authority to submit the Outline Business Case and Planning Application as detailed, requested authority to incur the required expenditure, highlighted the current funding shortfall and requested support for additional funding to be sought.

Responding to a Member’s enquiry, assurance was provided that all such schemes must fully take into account and mitigate against any impact upon communities downstream.

Also, regarding a Member’s comment about the lack of engagement from the Environment Agency which local Ward Members had experienced regarding issues in their local area, officers undertook to take this specific matter up with the Environment Agency on the Members’ behalf.

Following consideration of Appendix D to the submitted report designated as being exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3), which was considered in private at the conclusion of the meeting, it was

RESOLVED –

(a)  That approval be given to inject the remaining £1,509,000 of available Government Grant funding into the scheme;

(b)  That approval be given to inject £1,328,000 of Central Contingencies to underwrite the currently identified funding gap on the scheme, in order to ensure the delivery of the scheme;

(c)  That approval be given to submit the Outline Business Case, as detailed at exempt Appendix D to the submitted report, to the Environment Agency;

(d)  That approval be given to submit the associated Planning Application;

(e)  That approval be given to incur additional expenditure of £260,000, to support the Outline Business Case submission and planning application in order to enable the scheme to progress in line with the programme;

(f)  That approval be given to incur expenditure, following the approval of the Outline Business Case, of £399,000 to develop the detailed design of Otley Flood Alleviation Scheme in order to enable the scheme to progress in line with the programme;

(g)  That the necessary authority be delegated to the Director of City Development to enable the Director to make the necessary authority to spend (ATS) approvals for the full scheme, subject to agreement with the Executive Member for Environment and Active Lifestyles.