Reducing flood risk in north Reading and Lower Caversham Feedback from public drop-ins 26 February to 13 March 2020
Drop-in objectives • Continue raising awareness of flood risk in the area. • Inform people about how to prepare for flooding now. • Share new, more detailed and visual information about our design to reduce flooding, as had been requested in previous engagement. • While this was not a formal consultation, we wanted to gain feedback from the local community on our latest design. • To help inform the next steps for the project.
Overview of what we did and why 4 6 Internal drop-ins for Public Environment Agency staff drop-ins 7 2 2 2 Weekend public Community group Evening public drop-ins meetings drop-ins
How people found out about the drop-ins • Local press event • 2050 letters. • Reading and attended by • Over 350 postcards Caversham Gov.uk • BBC South handed out. website. • Meriden • A4 and A3 sized posters • Local websites. • Reading Chronicle and postcards put up in • Social media. • The Breeze107.8 the study area. FM • Also covered by Heart FM. 4
Overview of responses 238 140 People Completed feedback The majority of attended the forms. feedback we public drop-ins. received was from • 117 hard copies within the scheme • 23 online surveys. area. 5
Question 1. How respondents found out about the drop-ins 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 54 Letter through door 40 Email 18 Word of mouth 15 Social media 15 Poster 14 Other method 6
Question 2. On a scale of 1 (not useful) to 5 (very useful), how useful did you find today? Not answered, 6% 1 (not useful, 3% 2, 2% 5 (very useful), 3, 11% 55% 4, 23% 1 2 3 4 5 N/A 7
Question 3. Before today had you heard about our work to reduce flooding in Reading and Caversham? Not answered 6% No, 6% Yes, 88% No Yes Not answered 8
Question 4. If you have commented in the past do you think your feedback has been listened to? Question 4 asked Not applicable, people to explain their 55% answer. All responses can be found in the Not answered, 7% appendices of the full report, which is available in the No , 18% Yes, 20% Related documents section on our website. Yes No Not applicable Not answered 9
Question 5. What aspects of today did you find most helpful? 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Maps showing extents of flooding 41% 21% 19% 7% Foam bricks to see the height of the walls 22% 19% 31% 8% Finding out about flood warnings and how 17% 14% 43% 8% to make a flood plan Watching the fly-through on the computer 13% 8% 58% 6% Seeing the before and after photos 52% 17% 9% 6% Viewing landscape plans of the proposed 59% 23% 5% 4% scheme Speaking to staff 71% 14% 6% 3% Very helpful Quite helpful A bit helpful Not helpful at all Not applicable No answer given 10
Question 6. Is there anything else that would help you to better understand the flood risk in the area, and our proposals to reduce this risk, that was not available today? Responses were varied, but some common themes identified were requests for: • Further information – documents to be publicly available • Information about construction • Additional display materials • More scheme specific information. To view the full list of responses please see the appendices of the report which is available in the related documents section on our website. 11
Q7. I understand that there are a large number of people at risk of flooding in this area. • 78% of respondents understood that there are a large number of No, 8% people at risk of Yes , 78% Not sure, 7% flooding in this area. • Not answered, 8% said no. 7% • The rest did not answer or were not sure. Yes No Not sure Not answered 12
Q8. Do you agree with the need to reduce flood risk in Reading and Caversham? • 62% of respondents No, 14% agreed with the need to reduce flood risk Not sure, 18% within the scheme area. Yes, 62% • Not answered, 14% said no. 6% • The rest did not answer or were not sure. Yes No Not sure Not answered 13
Q9. Do you agree that the design we have shared with you today will work to reduce flood risk in Reading and Caversham? No, 16% • 55% of respondents Not sure, 23% agreed with the overall scheme Yes, 55% Not answered, design. 6% • 16% said no. • The rest did not answer or were not sure. Yes No Not sure Not answered 14
Comparing responses to questions 9 and 8. Are opinions about the project design influenced by whether people agreed with the need to reduce flood risk in the area? • We found that those who agree with the need to reduce flood risk, or are not sure about it, also feel that the design presented would work. • Those who disagree with the need to reduce flood risk do not agree with or are not sure about the design. 15
Comparing responses to question 7 and 9. Of those who understood the area is at risk of flooding, how many agree with the scheme design? • 78% of respondents said they understand that there are a large number No of people at risk of 10% flooding in this area. Yes 67% • 67% of those that said Not Sure 23% they understand that there are a large number of people at risk, said they agree that the design we Yes No Not Sure shared will work to reduce flood risk in Reading and Caversham 16
• If people said no we asked why. All No, 21% responses can be found in the Not sure, 14% appendices of the full Yes, 59% report, which is available in the related Not answered, 6% documents section on our website. Yes No Not sure Not answered 17
Next steps Future themed Virtual meetings with community Reading Borough newsletters based Council on questions raised at recent drop-ins Continue to Build partnerships and seek funding engage with the local community and landowners 18
Recommend
More recommend
