Issue - meetings

The Director of Commercial & Operational Services presented a report updating Members on progress with the Humber 2100 Partnership Project which sought to manage and litigate the impact of tidal flooding in and around the Humber Estuary for the next 100 plus years.

It was explained that the Partnership consisted of the Environment Agency and eleven Local Authorities, with the Council’s interest and inclusion being due to the potential impacts on the tidal rivers Trent and Ancholme, both of which were connected to the Humber estuary. One key objective of the Partnership was to develop an adaptive pathway for managing risks, described as a decision-making tree, which would evolve over time given the complexities of the estuary and the uncertainty surrounding future environmental impacts on it.

The Partnership had agreed priorities for the Humber 2100 Strategy and the early work had been understanding risk. The first part of that work had involved modelling present day outputs which had now been endorsed by all partners. At this point in time there was no commitment of any level of resource or finance to the project, the endorsement was simply an acceptance of the as-is position.

It was further explained that the endorsement allowed the next piece of work to start, which was to model potential scenarios, or what might happen. There would be consultation with key stakeholders, with the outputs requiring a more formal decision from Members. This was likely to be in mid-2025.

The Committee heard details of Councillor and Officer involvement in the programme, as well as a recent presentation that had taken place for Councillors in November 2023. The Committee were requested to note the details of the project update, endorsement and indicative timeline.

Members of the Committee expressed their support for the work programme and recognition of the technical nature of the work. The importance of being involved in the Partnership was highlighted, with concerns of flooding in West Lindsey continuing to worsen.

With widespread thanks to all involved, the contents of the report, specifically the:

• Humber 2100+ project update
• indicative timeline
• endorsement of the present-day outputs

were DULY NOTED.