Information Exchange
The international linkages between through the Joint Approach for the Management of Flooding project allow the PCP to learn from the experience of our Dutch and German partners, as well as contribute knowledge ourselves. The regional partners exchange views, expertise and experience through a programme called ‘Input-Output’, which is split into four sections:
Multifunctional Land Use
River Restoration
New Technologies
European Networking
Research and Discussion
Much of the PCP’s work is new and innovative, involving untried methods that require a great deal of consideration to ensure that they are feasible and cost-effective before they can be implemented. The PCP comprises and sits on a number of different working groups, which address different proposals and ideas:
Lobbying Group
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) group
Woodland Development Group
Monitoring Group
JAF Local Coordination Group
They are made up of officers from PCP’s stakeholder organisations who give their time and energy as an ‘in kind’ contribution.
The PCP also sits on a number of other local groups:
The Tidal Sluice Group
Somerset Water Management Strategy (led by the Environment Agency)
The Levels and Moors Partnership Steering Committee
The River Parrett Trail Steering Committee
Lobbying
The PCP’s work takes place in a framework of regional and national rules and policies. An important function is to lobby the appropriate authorities to ensure that these policies and rules facilitate rather than constrain our work. The PCP Lobby Group's mission is to achieve national and regional policies that will further the delivery of PCP's components by responding to formal consultations as well as taking every opportunity to raise the issues in national and regional fora.
Consultations the Group have participated in include: “Water for Life and Livelihoods” – Consultation on a Strategy for River Basin Planning (closing date for responses was 29 April 2005). The Water Framework Directive provides an opportunity to improve our approach to River Basin Planning and the Environment Agency, as the competent authority for England and Wales, is leading this work.
A copy of the draft strategy consultation document can be downloaded from http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv/consultations/946103/. Specific questions are included in the body of the text and full details of the consultation arrangements can be found in Chapter 6. An interactive version of the document is also available. This version includes links to relevant web pages and technical reports.
SW Regional Forestry Framework (deadline 14th January 2005). The Framework will help set the direction of future investment and action in the region's woodlands and forests, helping to ensure they contribute effectively to the region's quality of life, economy and environment for many years to come. Visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-67ecty for further information.
"Making Space for Water" (deadline 1st November 2004) was the consultation on a new Government strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England for the next twenty years. The last national Strategy for Flood and Coastal Defence was published in 1993 and needs revising. Information is available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/waterspace
Developing measures to promote catchment-sensitive farming in England (within the Catchment-Sensitive Farming Programme: taking forward the Strategic review of diffuse water pollution from agriculture.) DEFRA invited views on the approach and possible measures to improve water quality through catchment-sensitive farming.
Formal Consultation on the draft new EU Rural Development Regulation (deadline Nov 12th). The draft new EU Rural Development Regulation was published by the European Commission on 15 July 2004. The Regulation forms the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy. PCP needs to ensure that measures to encourage farmers to retain water on their land are included in the final version of the Environmental Stewardship scheme.
PCP's responses to these consultations will be available on this website shortly.
Demonstration
No amount of research can substitute for actually implementing ideas to try them out in practice. So, on the basis of research carried out and techniques learnt from abroad, the PCP has developed a pilot programme called Farming Water which aims to test and demonstrate techniques that could help to reduce prolonged and deep flooding. Showing that such techniques are viable and cost-effective is important and many lessons have been learnt from our pilot projects, which have consisted of many schemes from changing rural land-use to the construction of storage lakes on farmland.
Facilitating Communication and Raising Awareness
For a partnership to operate effectively, it is essential for communication. Sharing information between stakeholders, interest groups and the general public is a central but not easy task.
We have a diverse programme of awareness-raising events, public and stakeholder participatory forums and publications (both paper and electronic) to provide and open, accessible and informative atmosphere where the difficulties of reconciling many disparate participants in the project are overcome.
Thanks to funding from the European Regional Development fund, our communications programme comprises a number of varied activities and events, including the River Festival, catchment Roadshows, PCP in Practice as well as public and school initiatives.
Finally, it is important to maintain good and constructive relations with the media to be able to keep the public informed about our work.
For more information, please see the News section of our website.
To learn more of what these processes are achieving, see the What We Are Doing section of this website.
