Council Update - Sluice Gates

Whilst water levels are currently low we are not being complacent about the impact of flooding in and around Cirencester and have made a commitment to review the operation of the sluice gates; we are working closely with a wide range of partners and stakeholders and reviewing information provided by the public when the most recent flooding occurred in December 2020. As part of the Town Council’s response, the review of the sluice gates forms part of our short-term Corporate Strategy. Cirencester Town Council is responsible for the operation of two of the four sluices in Cirencester. Whilst the other two sluices are privately operated their operation is included in a joined up way in a memorandum of operation.

Our Corporate Strategy includes the following outputs with work on these to commence this month:

• commission a report to consider information provided by community-led groups

• review and update the memorandum for the operation of the sluice gates

• liaise with, and arrange, joint collaboration with the Environment Agency including strategic deployment of sandbags, training and scenario planning

• explore localised volunteer action groups which can respond in an emergency, resourced by CTC/CDC/EA

• review and respond to outputs included in the Friends of Gumstool Brook recommendations roadmap