The Maidenhead Town Forum was scheduled to meet on Thursday 11 September 2025, at Maidenhead Town Hall. The agenda included a briefing on the development of a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, and an update from Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager. The forum was also expected to discuss progress on actions from previous meetings.

Local Flood Risk Management Strategy

Ben Crampin, Flood Risk Manager, was scheduled to brief the Forum on the development of a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and seek its input.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), has a duty to develop and maintain a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. The current strategy was published in 2014, and a new one is required to align with updated national and local strategies and policies.

The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is required under section 9 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. It details the objectives and actions to manage local flood risk, including that from:

• Surface Water
• Ground Water
• Ordinary Watercourses

The strategy is planned to span from 2026 to 2041. Four draft principles have been developed to apply to each of the objectives within the strategy:

• Longer Term Approach
• Be Adaptable to the Changing Climate
• Taking a Catchment Approach
• Community Resilience and Responsibility

The draft strategy has eight objectives:

1. Data and Information: Aims to improve the data held regarding flood risk within the Borough.
2. Section 19 Flooding Investigations: Provides clarity for the process of investigating flooding incidents.
3. Responsibilities of Risk Management Authorities: Ensures that information about the relevant Risk Management Authority (RMA) is easily available to the public.
4. Maintenance of Authority Owned Assets: Sets out clear policies and processes for prioritising maintenance works.
5. Landowner Responsibilities: Ensures landowners are aware of their responsibilities for maintaining watercourses, as set out in section 25 of the Land Drainage Act 1991¹.
6. Building the Resilience of Communities to Flooding across the Borough: Informs residents about how they can manage their own risk.
7. Investment in Flood Risk Mitigation: Sets out the framework for how schemes are chosen and how external funding can be sourced, including Natural Flood Management (NFM) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)².
8. Planning, Placemaking and Sustainable Drainage: Focuses on how the LLFA carries out its role as Statutory Consultee for surface water provision within major planning applications and how SuDS can be better incorporated into the wider urban environment.

The Forum was invited to provide feedback on any potential issues or themes of issues they are aware of within their wards to help shape the action plans for the final draft of the document.

Town Manager Update

Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager, was scheduled to provide an update to the Forum. The update included footfall and stats for Maidenhead High Street, St Ives and Watermark, the Waterside Quarter, and the larger Maidenhead area.

The update also included information on upcoming events, and encouraged people to share their events to maidenhead.tm@rbwm.gov.uk and tag @MakeMaidenhead on Facebook and Instagram.

The Maidenhead Christmas Lights Switch On and Festive Market was scheduled to return on Saturday 22 November, and the update noted that the council was looking for stall holders.

A4 St. Cloud Way Underpass

Ben Crampin, Flood Risk Manager, was also scheduled to provide a verbal update on the A4 St. Cloud Way Underpass.

Actions from Previous Meetings

The Forum was scheduled to note any progress on actions from previous meetings. These included:

• Councillor Catherine Del Campo, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health & Housing Services, was to investigate possible support that could be provided to the Windsor and Maidenhead Carers Support Group.
• Councillor Geoff Hill was invited to attend a Forum meeting to talk about the condition of pavements in Maidenhead.
• Thames Valley Police were invited to Forum to address the issue of pavement parking.
• The Transport Team was contacted about the bus lane on Bridge Avenue, regarding possibly reducing the size of the bus lane to allow for the creation of additional parking bays.
• A discussion on how the remainder of the precept would be spent was to be included in the agenda for the next meeting of the Forum.
• The Communications Team agreed to contact the Fire Service to discuss the promotion of fire safety information.
• Areli were re-invited to a meeting of the Forum to give a presentation on the project at Nicholson's Quarter.

Other Business

The agenda also allowed for an open discussion, giving members and attendees the opportunity to suggest issues for future Forum meetings.