Flooding - Who is responsible for what? 
 
Flooding responses are often quite difficult to determine, however the general rule of thumb is:

The Environment Agency is responsible for flooding from rivers.

Essex County Council Highways Department has the responsibility to ensure that the roads in the District are kept free from flood water as far as reasonably practicable.

Braintree District Council will deal with localised flooding from  ditches, pipes and culverts where legal intervention is required.  The Council can take legal action against landowners to resolve flooding issues, but is under no statutory duty to do so.

The owner of a property is responsible for protecting their own property against flooding.  If you are a tenant it will be your landlord who has this responsibility.

Note:  local councils do not have a legal obligation to store and provide the public with sandbags.  If  your property is susceptible to flooding you should be prepared and protect your property - using a variety of flood protection products. Currently most parish councils (in locations which are commonly affected by flooding) hold their own stocks of sandbags within the village.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service  in flooding situations has a duty only where there is a risk to life or a risk of fire.  It has limited resources and there is often little it can do once the rescue phase is over - when a building is flooded and floodwaters are still high outside, there is no point in pumping water out of a property when that property is still flooded and the water is still rising outside.

In a flood situation the emergency services, local authorities and public utility services will try to help where they can, but ultimately the responsibility to protect a property against flooding lies with the owner.

Who is responsible for what?

It would be advisable for members of the public to contact Braintree District Council in the first instance and we will be able to point  you in the right direction.  Please also see the "flooding Responsibilities and How to Protect your Property" pages for flood advice. 

Contact: Phone: 01376 552525 or E-mail:  csc@braintree.gov.uk