Lower Wear Pilot Catchment
DRAFT Terms of Reference & Structure for Pilot ‘Development
Group’
For discussion at meeting on 18th January 2012
1 The need for a new approach
The UK’s way of delivering wide ranging improvements to waters; including rivers,
groundwaters, lakes, estuaries and the coast is through River Basin Planning. This
has previously been undertaken on a larger scale and we recognise that more needs
to be done at a smaller geographical scale - the catchment scale.
This will involve working with a range of people and organisations to demonstrate
how the water environment will be improved. We want to explore ways of engaging at
a local level to encourage participation in the pilots and work in collaboration to
identify the issues, outcomes and actions needed to improve our water environment.
Our evidence shows us that most of the water environments (rivers, reservoirs,
canals and groundwater) in the pilot area are at present failing to meet the standards
required for the Water Framework Directive which sets strict targets for improving
water quality by 2027. Failure to achieve the targets could result in the UK
Government incurring heavy fines from Europe. Despite significant effort, it is unlikely
we will meet the requirements of the Directive unless additional action is taken.
There is a need for a more coordinated and coherent approach to delivering
environmental improvements for the water environment. This will require those
organisations that have the knowledge, ability and commitment to work more closely
together to develop a strategic plan for improving the catchment. We would like this
plan to reflect the aspirations of the local people and organisations in the area and
the planned and on-going activities we are all doing to improve it.
The formation of the Lower Wear Pilot Development Group will act as a mechanism
to test this approach and work together to improve the Wear catchment.
2 Aims
The Lower Wear Pilot Development Group exists to:
Work together to:

Get communities interested & involved

Share hopes and concerns for the catchment

Reach a shared understanding of the catchment priorities

Identify agreed problems and outcomes that people can relate to
Develop a Catchment Plan that will:

Create a vision for the pilot that people want to sign up to

Identify realistic actions to improve the River Wear catchment

Provide a forum for people and organisations to know what work is going on in
the catchment
Improving knowledge sharing to:

Enable better access to information about the River Wear

Improve understanding of investigations we are doing about why rivers fail in this
catchment

Influence how resources can be better used and targeted in the catchment

Sharing the results of the pilot and lessons learned
3 Governance and structure

The Development Group (DG) will comprise organisations with a strategic
interest and/or influence in relation to improving the water environment in the
Wear catchment area.

The DG is open to representatives from other organisations joining, though
numbers should be limited to only one or two more and subject to approval from
the existing group in order to keep meetings and decision making efficient and
effective.

The sturcture will comprise a Development Group (DG), wider stakeholder group
and issue based task and finish groups (Diagram 1)…..

The DG will be supported and administered by the Environment Agency;
however, it will act as its own independent entity.

The group will operate between now and December 2012. The end goal is to
establish a separate ‘Steering Group’ in Dec 2012 to oversee delivery of the plan
which may include existing members of the Development Group.
Northumbria
River Basin Liaison Panel
Other landscape
scale strategies
Task & Finnish /
Working-Group
Theme 1:
Project
Project
Development
Group
Task & Finnish /
Working-Group
Theme 2:
Project
Project
Wider
stakeholder
group
Task & Finnish /
Working-Group
Theme 3:
Project
Project
4 Role of the Development Group

Develop a strategic plan (e.g. Catchment Plan), with time specific actions, setting
out ‘what’ activity is needed, ‘by when’ and ‘by who’ in order to achieve agreed
shared outcomes.

Take ownership of the strategic plan - to take the pilot from planning to
intervention.

Discussing and agreeing on priorities and outcomes, sharing information and
resources, working together to tackle difficult issues that require multi-agency
input,

Develop a vision for the pilot and list of high level aims which relate to the
outcomes developed during the stakeholder workshop.

Work collaboratively to identify quick wins to deliver on the ground to achieve the
agreed outcomes this year

Liaise with the Environment Agency to identify work that needs to be done
outside of the 15 pilot water bodies but that will benefit them.

A key role of the group is to share information and between others to reduce
working in ‘silos’. The group should have a role to share information with the
wider ‘stakeholder group’ who were present at the pilot workshop on 11th
November 2011.

The Development Group should have a role to identify gaps in the wider
stakeholder group to help ensure it is adequately represented.

Maximise the use of existing resources and seek to attract additional resources
or funding if necessary. Role to oversee expenditure that is available for
delivering the pilot between now to December 2012. Where funds are being
provided by the Environment Agency this will be subject to approval by the
Environment Agency Pilot sponsor.

Co-ordinate and integrate the relevant existing and future plans, policies, and
other landscape scale strategies and activities that overlap with the pilot area in
order to achieve more effective working practises and delivery of multiple
benefits.

Act as a point of coordination and integration for the wider stakeholder group
organisations.

Direct and oversee the work of the task and finish sub-groups in order to ensure
on the ground delivery achieves the agreed outcomes.

Get more participation at a local level by encouraging and enabling communities
and business to act to protect and improve their water environments.
5 Wider Stakeholder Group

The wider ‘stakeholder group’ that met at the workshop in November will act as a
gateway to reach others about the pilot, i.e. wider communities and the public.
They already have useful networks in place that could be used for engagement
about the pilot……
6 Task and finish groups / Thematic Groups - TBC

…… task and finish groups will be set up by the Development Group, on an
‘as needed’ basis, in order to carry out work that needs more detailed, in
depth attention than can be provided at Development Group meetings. This
will include exploring and improving evidence, and developing options and
ideas for solutions.

….task and finish groups will be set up by the Development Group to allow
relevant individuals and organisations to come together to explore evidence,
issues, and put forward ways to deliver solutions.

….task and finish groups will be able to make recommendations to the
Development Group.

….task and finish groups will act on instruction from the Development Group.

…..task and finish groups will be made up of individuals and organisations
with a particular interest, knowledge or influence in the subject of the group,
and will be drawn from beyond the membership of the wider stakeholder
group.