Thank you

When the council met the Cheltenham Sunrise Rotary club

Bob Gower of the Cheltenham Sunrise Rotary club invited Cheltenham Borough Council’s Rob Bell and Phil Judge to a catch up meeting at Cheltenham Cricket Club on the recent flooding problems and how we had all worked together.

When they got there they found it was much more than a just catch up meeting. All four presidents of the local Rotary clubs were there in a packed meeting room to make a presentation for all the work put in by the council teams during the flooding.

Bob Gower of Rotary praised our rest centre team,

for the calm and comforting way they dealt with the rescued

Bob went on to thank the depot water distribution team for managing the crisis with,

flexibility, encouragement and efficiency

Our own Phil Judge said,

Rotary responded magnificently to the crisis. On the Friday night of the flooding I contacted Bob as I was told he may have contacts that could supply dry clothing for the people in our rest centre. He turned up in an hour with five large bags of new clothes purchased from Matalan.

The latest news about leisure@cheltenham

With lots of enquiries coming in about our flood damaged leisure facilities we’re trying to pull together information and give a formal announcement about where we are right now.

At the moment we’re trying to get the running track and a few facilities that support it open, perhaps in a couple of weeks time. The rest of the centre was very badly damaged and will take a long time to recover. The video below shows the moment the machine room flooded. This is the room that houses all the pumps and filters that support the swimming pool, it finished up under twenty five feet of water.

The video below shows the same machine room being pumped out a few days later.

Normal service will be resumed…

Things are slowly getting back to normal here at the council. The emergency planning rooms are winding down, the plans have been rolled up and the chairs empty. People are slowly returning to their regular jobs. However we are still heavily involved in distributing bottled water 8am to 8pm and answering queries and keeping everyone informed. And of course, like everyone else, awaiting the message about water quality.

From today our normal contact number 01242 262626 will be back to 9am to 5pm operation, although at the moment this line will also be open over the weekend. Out of those hours the recorded message will give details of our duty officer’s mobile number.

Jack and Malcolm delivering water to elderly residents in Cheltenham

The pictures and video below show two of our council depot staff delivering water to elderly residents around Cheltenham. Our depot staff have been a vital link in the supply and a friendly face for many these past few days. The oldest person they deliver to is 104!

Tour around Cheltenham’s flood damaged leisure facilities

The images and video below show Stephen Petherick the commercial manager of leisure@cheltenham touring the darkened corridors of the flood damaged leisure centre. The insurance inspectors who visited a couple of days ago described it as one of the worst hit facilities in the region. Everything is now coated in a fine layer of silt, and on the walls a tide mark that shows the extent of the water. Sprung wooden floors are bowed and distorted and equipment lies scattered where it settled when the flood waters receded.

Everyone would like to thank the wonderful community around the centre, the residents of Hudson Street, Manser Street and Tommy Taylors Lane who provided food and drinks during the night of the flood and the period afterwards. Their support has been brilliant.

Headlines from the over weekend

• Before the water returns on tap – what to do
• Water reconnection timetable – area by area
• Portaloos bring relief to shoppers
• Keeping safe at home – essential advice
• The Mayor praises the towns efforts
• Amazing but true

The Mayor praises the town’s effort

Cheltenham’s Mayor, Councillor John Rawson, said today,

The whole town has come together to cope with this crisis in a quite amazing way. Hundreds of people have given their time unstintingly to help their neighbours and their local community by distributing water, filling sandbags, supporting frail and disabled people, and in dozens of other ways. I am extremely grateful for the terrific work the Cheltenham volunteer centre has done to encourage and co-ordinate voluntary effort. I am also immensely proud of our council employees who have worked long hours to delver the services people need and to keep the public informed.

The Mayor continued,

These are difficult times for Cheltenham residents, but our strong sense of community has helped us come through. I have spoken to many residents, especially at the water distribution points, who couldn’t be more grateful for the help and support they have received.

Catastrophic damage at leisure@cheltenham

We’ve just heard that loss adjustors called in by the council to assess the damage from last week’s flooding have spoken of ‘catastrophic damage’ at leisure@cheltenham.

At a meeting with council officers yesterday, loss adjustors said that, of all the public services and sites they had visited across the region, leisure@cheltenham has suffered the worst damage they had seen.

Gloucestershire flood relief fund

The Mayor of Gloucester has launched the Gloucestershire flood relief fund for those affected by the recent situation. The Mayor of Cheltenham, Councillor John Rawson has given his full backing to the appeal.

Update (03-08-2007) – Applications to the fund can now be made.

1. Download the Gloucestershire flood relief fund guidelines
2. Download the Gloucestershire flood relief fund application form

The Cheltenham flood in pictures

We are slowly amassing a collection of images that show how Cheltenham and it’s people have been affected by the flooding and subsequent loss of mains water supplies. Please take a look at our images on flickr.

Thanks for your comments and support, everything is being passed back to our emergency planning team.

Keeping the council operating – thanks Andy and co

Normally Andy is a payments manager, but everyone is mucking in to keep the council operating and responding.

How much water is out there?

4 million litres of water are being distributed currently as Severn Trent step up the emergency response. 330 bowsers are currently in Cheltenham with these being refilled up to five times per day by 80 water tankers.

The overriding advice is not to panic.

Residents supplied by Bristol water are not currently affected and are advised not to stock up because of the knock on effects.

Water is getting to Cheltenham at a fast pace, with vulnerable or elderly adults being contacted by the emergency team at Cheltenham Borough Council to ensure that their needs are being met.

For more information visit our page on emergency water supplies in the area.

‘I am proud of the community spirit in Cheltenham’

This is the message from councillor Rob Garnham, deputy leader of the council.

Following the flooding and water shortages, Cheltenham Borough Council has had an overwhelming response from members of the public with offers of help.

The council would like to thank everybody who has come forward and this is their advice on the best way you can help.

Chris Huckle, deputy chief executive, who is part of the council’s emergency team says:

The best thing at this time is for people to support their neighbours, ensuring they have enough drinking water and other essential supplies. There are now 330 bowsers in various locations around Cheltenham so check on your neighbours and see if they need you to get some water for them.

If any further, more specific help is needed by the council, they will be contacting those who have phoned in and will also put out an urgent plea for help through the local media and on the flood blog, a link to which is on the council’s website www.cheltenham.gov.uk

The main message at the moment is for people not to panic and to support each other.

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum to close due to floods

Cheltenham Borough Council has this morning announced the closure of the art gallery and museum. The decision has been made in the interests of health and safety due to difficulties in continuing to provide adequate sanitation facilities.

Staff at the art gallery and museum are being briefed first thing this morning and will be allocated other duties.

Jane Lillystone, museum and arts manager said:  “It is with great regret that we have had to close the art gallery and museum but we felt we had no alternative in the light of the current situation. We will be monitoring the situation closely and hope to reopen as soon as we can.”

We will be keeping the public informed through our web site www.cheltenhammuseum.org.uk

Today’s priority, the distribution of bottled water

Today’s priority for Cheltenham Borough Council’s emergency team is to co-ordinate the distribution of free bottled water from various sites in Cheltenham.

The army are responsible for delivery to the sites and council staff will be assisting with distribution. The police will also be on hand to ensure people collect the water safely.

Details of the exact locations will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Follow the emergency water supplies link at the top of this page for the latest news.

Blogging from the bunker!

Well, not quite the bunker, actually we’re in the Pittville and Montpellier meeting rooms here at the Municipal Offices in the middle of Cheltenham. A hive of activity, maps, whiteboards and staff from across our organisation all working together to solve immediate problems and make sure that everyone is safe and well informed. Scroll down this page to find all the latest information.

Update to council staff

It is still ‘business as usual’ this morning and we are asking all staff to come to work as normal providing it is safe for you to do so.

There is no water in the Municipal Offices this morning but we have power as normal.  We have a bowser at the back of the building which is providing a supply of water for flushing the toilets.  We will have a supply of bottled water coming up from the depot for drinking. 

The depot and other offices will be in the same situation with power but no water so a good idea to come prepared with some drinking water.