Parish Emergency Plan

The emergency plan volunteers are on standby if needed to help with any incidents. Any life & limb emergency call 999. If people think there is a parish level response get in touch with their area reps as follows:
Area East: Mark Rusby – Tel 07909969799.

Area Tanhouse: Mike Tyers – Tel 07768 444198

Area Crews: Jake Simpson – Tel 07775 430820

Area Crowhill: Tom Blandford – Tel 07584 426327

Area Phocle Green: Tony Chudziac – Tel 07970 557305

Introduction

This UB PEP has been designed to enable Upton Bishop Parish to react to and deal with local emergencies and assist the community in reducing the negative impacts an emergency can have until further assistance has been received.

The UB PEP seeks to identify the risks most likely to impact the community and identify vulnerable people, groups and establishments in the parish. It also seeks to articulate the relevant steps and actions to be taken in the parish, along with identifying the required resources to support the plan, in order to mitigate and respond to emergency situations.  

The UB PEP does not replace the onus on individuals, households or business for their own responsibilities in an emergency.

It is not the role of the parish community, or the UB PEP, to take on the responsibilities of the statutory authorities or emergency services or to take any risks that may endanger individuals or property.

Aim of the UB PEP

The aim of the UB PEP is to identify and co-ordinated community procedures in order to increase the resilience of the community to an emergency,

UB PEP Emergencies and Risk

For the basis of the UB PEP the following types of potential emergencies that may impact the community are:

• Significant disruption to mains services (Electricity, Water or Gas failure)
• Significant disruption to transport infrastructure (Weather, accidents, road closures).
• Flooding of roads and or homes.
• Fires to homes, businesses, and farmland.
• Hazardous Vapour and liquid releases.

Risk.  The region (West Mercia/Herefordshire) has a Community Risk Register (CRR) that identifies and suggests actions relative to each identified risk. The 10 key categories are: Community & Personal Resilience, Fire Prevention & Safety, Advice from West Midlands Ambulance Service, Terrorism, Cyber & fraud, Organised Crime, Accidents & Systems Failures, Natural & Environmental Hazards, Human & animal Disease, Social Disruption. This is a good reference point for individuals, businesses and the parish and is the baseline for risk assessment throughout this UB PEP.

The link to the CRR is:

www.westmercia.police.uk/police-forces/west-mercia-police/areas/west-mercia/about-us/about-us/west-mercia-local-resilience-forum2/community-risk-register

UB PEP Concept

The UB PEP is based on a three layer and five area concept.

The UB PEP three layers are as follows:

The first layer is based on the responsibilities and response by individuals and business to an emergency. The UB PEP will provide guidance and pathways to assist individuals and business to preparing and responding to an emergency.

Guidance and assistance to Households is at Appendix 1.

Businesses should look to developing their own Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and include planning in how to deal with an emergency. BCP Planning is outside the scope of this plan. However, Herefordshire Council have advice and assistance in this regard. Below are links to other forums and advice to assist with BCP.

• Herefordshire Council: https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/community-1/emergency-planning-herefordshire/5
• Business Continuity Institute:  Tel:08706038783 www.thebci.org
• Emergency Planning Society: Tel: 08456009587 https://the-eps.org/

The second layer is the combined parish community responsibilities and response to an emergency. The parish is geographically large and quite diverse. For the purposes of the UB PEP the parish area has been divided into 5 areas. This layout in turn provides the basis for a Parish Emergency Committee (PEC) of volunteer co-ordinators. The UB PEP is focused at this layer.

At this layer the community may use the emergency plan structure, the Parish Emergency Committee (see para below) leadership, staff, co-ordination, procedures and PEC resources to deal with a more limited localised emergency.

The third layer is the responsibility of the statutory authorities and emergency services. Individuals, businesses, and the community deal with these authorities as appropriate. The UB PEP will highlight some points of contact and pathways to assist at all levels. A summary of contacts and pathways is at Annex I.

The PEC plans and co-ordinates the community’s response to an incident and emergency. Importantly the PEC ensures that responses are dealt with at the appropriate level (level 1, 2 or 3) and that the community does not activate the UB PEP for what should remain an individual or busines responsibility. The PEC also ensures that the community response does not interfere or hinder the responsibilities and actions of the statutory authorities or emergency services. The PEC can provided a point of contact for individuals, businesses, statutory authorities or emergency services if required and is appropriate.

The UB PEP five areas:

• UB West: Centred on the community group around Phocle Green crossroads. This also includes the Grayton Lodge Holiday site plus the business and storage site on the lane north of the crossroads.
• UB Crow Hill: The majority of the community are centred around Crow Hill and the junction of the B4224 and B4221. It includes the Windy Hollow business complex, the Moody Cow pub and the dangerous A449 & B4224 Old Gore crossroads.
• UB Crews: This area encompasses the community on Upton Crews along with Mullhampton, Probyns Pitch and the Church. This includes the Chicory Crops Farm distribution complex, the sewage outlet on the B4224 and the Millenium Hall.
• UB East. This area encompasses the community spread out along the road running east towards Kempley. This includes Upton Court Farm, Castle Farm and the Blue Skys Business complex on Woodhouse Lane.
• UB Tanhouse: This area encompasses the community along the road to Tanhouse.
• A map of the UB PEP areas is at Annex A.

Parish Emergency Committee (PEC).

In order to plan, resource and manage the UB PEP and deal with the community response to an emergence it is headed up by a PEC, which is is staffed by volunteers. The PEC will be led by a Main Coordinator and supported by a Deputy. Ideally the PEC is to have a minimum of one representative for each PEP area. Based on the 5 areas this provides a PEC of 5 (possibly 7 if the Main Coordinator and Deputy are separate). The 5 PEC ‘area reps/leads’ provide the subject matter expertise of their area when developing, managing and actioning the plan. They also act as the initial points of contact with the community in their area for inquiries about the plan, recruiting volunteers and resources in support of the plan.

The PEC relationship with the Parish Council is articulated in a Terms of Reference (TOR). Copy is at:

A list of Roles and Responsibilities of the PEC is at:

Activation of the UB PEP

The UB PEP is ideally activated collectively by all the PEC. However, circumstances might dictate a rapid response and it can in exceptional circumstances be activated by a minimum of two members of the PEC. It is dependent on the emergency and it is the responsibility of the PEC to assess the situation and then decide on the way forward and what is the appropriate level of response (level 1, 2 or 3). This can be done face to face, by telephone, video or social media as they feel appropriate. The PEC will then put all or part of the plan into effect as appropriate. This will include liaison with the Emergency Services and Statutory Authorities as required.  Key point of contact plus direction and guidance is the Herefordshire Council Emergency Planning Team.

The criteria for activating the UB PEP is as follows:

• Actual or threatened injury or loss of life, particularly if the threat is increasing or extensive.
• Actual or threatened damage to property, particularly if the threat is increasing or extensive.
• The causation is spread geographically, not located at a single property.

An initial activation check for the UB PEP list is at:

Evacuation. Any decision to evacuate will normally be made by the Police or Fire Service. Confirmation will be co-ordinated with Herefordshire Council Emergency Planning Department. Should there be a need to evacuate part of the parish community a ‘initial’ outline plan for this is at Annex E.

It is emphasised this is a start point and will have to be adapted and managed depending on the type, scale and location of the emergency with direction and guidance from the Police, Fire and Herefordshire Council Emergency Planning Department.

UB PEP Resources

For the UB PEP to be effective it requires resources to sustain any actions to deal with an emergency. This will include personnel, material, finances, and property.  The PEC will develop the lists of resources available in support of the UB PEP.

Human Resources (People)

The PEC will keep a record of volunteers with special skills. A list of volunteers is at    Annex F (Certain details are redacted for PEC use only)

Material Resources (Things)

Plant and Equipment. The PEC will liaise across the community to see what useful plant and equipment might be made available in the event of an emergency. The recording of the support offered needs to be handled with care and treated in confidence and limited to the members of the PEC. Also requests for use of material is only to be requested and authorised by the PEC to ensure it is appropriate and not misused by individuals or organisations. A list of ‘volunteered use’ plant and equipment is at Annex G (Certain details are redacted for PEC access only)

Property and Stores. The PEC will develop the list of property for support of the UB PEP. A list of property and stores is at Annex H.

Financial Resources (Money)

The PEC will liaise with the Parish Council (PC) to access financial resources in support of the UB PEP and community response to an emergency. The PEC will not commit any financial resources without appropriate PC authority.

The Parish Lengthsman, his equipment and capabilities should be included in the resource plan. This will require the PEC to liaise with the PC to authorise and prioritise his work in the event of an emergency.

Upton Bishop Emergency Centre (UBEC)

The PEC will co-ordinate the Parish’s response from the UBEC.  The centre will be used in the event of a large or sustained emergency. The initial plan is to use the Upton Bishop Millennium Hall as the UBEC. The site has good road access, has light, heating, toilets, feeding facilities, car parking and areas for storing materials. The grounds are also suitable for use as a Helicopter Landing Site (HLS).

The Millennium Hall can also be used as an initial and limited Emergency Transit Centre (ETC) and Emergency Rest Centre (ERC). This is only realistically to be use for 24/48 hours and thereafter more long-term accommodation is to be resourced in consultation with the PC and County Council, Emergency Services, and facilities companies.

The PEC will liaise with the Millennium Hall committee to arrange access and use of the hall and the grounds.

COMMUNICATION

Communication for the development and maintenance of the UB PEP will be a combination of meetings and email. The intention is for the PEC to run a PEC WhatsApp group to assist with group day to day communication.

During an emergency communication will be managed both face to face and through the use of telephone. The PEC would continue to use the PEC WhatsApp group to help with dynamic information sharing and maintaining a record of actions.

The wider distribution of the PEP will be through a portal on the Upton Bishop website. This will also be used to update and assist the community of emergency planning issues.

A summary of the key contacts and pathways is at Annex I.

TRAINING

The PEC will be responsible for any training that is appropriate and required to enable the UB PEP. This to include team training, individual training, individual qualifications (if required/appropriate) and wider training with statutory authorities and emergency services. The PEC will develop the training plan in consultation with Herefordshire Council Emergency planning team.

SUMMARY. Upton Bishop Parish Emergency Plan (UB PEP) has been designed to enable the parish to react to and deal with local emergencies and assist the community in reducing the negative impacts an emergency. The UB PEP is based on a 3 layer and 5 area concept, headed up by a 5/7 person Parish Emergency Committee (PEC), staffed by volunteers, assisted by volunteers and using ‘volunteered use’ plant and equipment. The plan does not replace the onus on individuals, households, or businesses for their own responsibilities in an emergency. The plan is not designed to take on the responsibilities of the statutory authorities or emergency services or to take any risks that may endanger individuals or property.

Distribution. The plan is for use by the PEC, local authorities, and emergency services. An unrestricted copy of the plan is available on the Parish Website.

Plan review and update. The plan can be updated on a case-by-case requirement as authorised by the PEC. The plan will be reviewed annually (Sept) by the PEC.

Mark Rusby, the author of the plan gave a presentation on it to the Parish Council meeting on November 2nd 2021. This is his presentation.