The Winchelsea Emergency Plan

What is an Emergency Plan?

The Winchelsea Emergency Plan is a type of Parish Emergency Plan, but it covers Winchelsea only (Rye Harbour ward now has a plan but other wards in the Parish of Icklesham do not). Emergency Plans describe how communities would try to cope in a major civil emergency, before the emergency services can get to them, and what they would do to help the emergency services once they arrive. Parish Emergency Plans are intended to support the emergency plans that the District and County Councils are obliged to produce under the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004.

What is a civil emergency?

A civil emergency is defined as any event or set of events that causes or threatens to cause major physical damage to property, the disruption of basic services, or fatal or other serious injuries, on a scale, or in the context of a wider emergency, that would stretch the normal emergency services. The most probable civil emergency in Rother District is flooding. Two roads in Winchelsea (Station Road and Tanyard Lane-The Strand) are at risk of flooding from the River Brede. The rest of Winchelsea is on a hill, up to 100 feet above sea level, but may still be at risk from flash flooding in heavy rain.

The Winchelsea Emergency Plan

The Plan describes:

• the organised response of the community to civil emergencies affecting Winchelsea, before the arrival of the external agencies responsible for tackling civil emergencies in Rother District and East Sussex; and
• the assistance that can be offered from within the community to those agencies after they arrive.

The Plan names the Emergency Response Wardens, to whom residents could turn for information or assistance, and who would be the first point of contact for external agencies arriving in Winchelsea in response to a local civil emergency. It also provides:

• an inventory of known resources within Winchelsea;
• a list of the volunteers who have indicated that they may be available in a local civil emergency;
• a list of contacts at the external agencies responsible for tackling civil emergencies in Rother District and East Sussex; and
• maps of the locality, highlighting key facilities (eg electricity sub-stations) and vulnerable points on local roads (eg bridges).

Who manages the Winchelsea Emergency Plan?

The Plan was originally drawn up by the Winchelsea Town Plan Steering Committee, with the assistance of the Emergency Planning Officers at Rother District Council. Public consultations on the draft Winchelsea Emergency Plan were held in July and August 2007. The final version was endorsed by the parish council in September 2007. The Winchelsea Emergency Plan is kept updated by the Winchelsea Emergency Group, who would manage its implementation in an emergency. The volunteers of this group act as Emergency Response Wardens, one of whom is also Flood Warden. The Plan is reviewed annually.

What would happen in Winchelsea in a civil emergency?

The Plan would be invoked by the Co-ordinator of the Winchelsea Emergency Group in response to an alert from the police, the emergency services, or the emergency planners at the District or County Council, or at his own initiative, if he becomes aware of a civil emergency which could affect Winchelsea. In the absence of the Co-ordinator, the decision will be taken by his deputy or, in his absence, another Emergency Response Warden, preferably in concert with the other Wardens. Once the Plan has been invoked, the Co-ordinator of the Winchelsea Emergency Group, or a deputy, would identify and assess the emergency and, if necessary, report it to Sussex Police HQ. He would establish an HQ in Winchelsea (probably at the New Inn) and convene a meeting of Emergency Response Wardens. The Group would:

• Establish contact with Rother District Council and try to maintain a communications link.
• Assemble as many members of the community as possible who are willing to volunteer to undertake tasks allocated during the emergency, briefing them on the nature of the emergency and the need to avoid unnecessary risks, including the handling of hazardous equipment on which they lack training. Volunteers will be given some means of identification, such as high-visibility jackets.
• Identify the vulnerable members of the community and their situation.
• Link up with emergency services as they arrive at the scene, and provide information and guidance as requested.
• Assist Rother District Council at any Rest Centre set up in Winchelsea.
• Provide an information point for residents, and disseminate information to residents as and when needed in support of and/or supported by Rother District Council.
• Deal with the media.
• Issue instructions to Emergency Response Wardens and volunteers to stand down upon confirmation from Rother District Council that the emergency is over, or that community resources no longer need be made continuously available to the emergency services.

The Plan has no legal force, and the Wardens have no powers to instruct or compel residents to follow the Plan.

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