Scrutiny

Environment Select Committee

What does this select committee do?

The Environment Select Committee reviews services and policies related to:

  • planning policy
  • culture
  • environmental policy
  • regulatory services
  • flooding
  • transport and traffic management

The committee looks at these topics throughout the year by discussing reports at formal meetings, holding single-topic meetings to look at issues in more detail and setting up working groups.

The committee also gathers evidence by listening to residents and experts.

Current priorities for 2025 to 2026

Priorities for the municipal year 2025 to 2026 are:

  • statutory and discretionary services delivered by Environment and Neighbourhoods
  • Notting Hill Carnival
  • waste and recycling
  • the borough’s streetscapes
  • Cleaner and Greener Services
  • Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2024 to 2030
  • planning enforcement
  • implications of the government’s proposed planning reforms
  • Transport for London (TfL) and transport policy
  • transport update
  • scrutiny of council budget proposals for 2026 to 2027 and key performance indicators for services under this committee
  • producing a report from the Local Plan Policies Review Working Group

You can read meeting papers and agendas on the council committee pages.

Committee led events

E-bike residents’ conference

The residents’ conference on the use of e-bikes in the borough took place on Monday 28 October 2024 at the Small Hall in Kensington Town Hall.

The Environment Select Committee held this event because cycling and e-bike hire are becoming more popular with visitors and residents. The session was chaired by Councillor Greg Hammond, the committee chair. Residents discussed topics including:

  • pavement use and accessibility for pedestrians
  • safety and responsible cycling
  • storage and parking of hired e-bikes
  • use of virtual and marked bays for e-bikes
  • environmental benefits of cycling and e-bikes

The event included a Q&A session with panel speakers:

  • representatives from Lime and Forest e-bike providers
  • Councillor Cem Kemahli, Lead Member for Planning and Place
  • a representative from London Councils
  • a sustainable transport officer from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The committee will use the evidence and feedback from the event to write a report with recommendations for the Lead Member and the council’s Leadership Team. The report will be discussed at the select committee on 27 January 2025 and published before the meeting.

For more information, email [email protected].

Flood Risk Management Working Group

On 23 June 2022, the Environment Select Committee agreed to set up a working group to review how flood risk is managed in the borough. This followed the July 2021 flooding, which was reviewed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The members of the working group are:

  • Cllr Hamish Adourian (Chair)
  • Cllr Aarien Areti
  • Cllr Joanna Gardner
  • Cllr Stuart Graham
  • Cllr Eva Jedut

Read the working group's final report.

Find further information on the council's flood risk management strategy 

Evidence session 1

The first evidence session of the working group took place on Tuesday 26 July 2022 in Committee Room 5 at Kensington Town Hall. The focus of the meeting was on the Council’s recently published Section 19 report.

Participants in the session included:

  • James Latham, Principal Flood and Water Management Officer
  • Jonathan Wade, Head of Spatial Planning
  • Anna Beasley, JBA Consulting
  • Ken Thompson, Waste and Street Enforcement Team Manager
  • Gary O’Hagan, SUEZ General Manager

Residents and members of the public were also invited to have their say as well on the Section 19 report and the issues raised. For members of the public and residents who were not able to attend, you can watch a YouTube recording of the meeting.

Evidence Session 2

The second evidence session took place on Wednesday 7 September at Kensington Town Hall. The focus of the meeting was on Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) as part of flood risk management.

Participants in the session included:

  • David Ifould, Groundwork London
  • Ian Hawthorn, Hammersmith and Fulham Council
  • Jessica Bastock, Hammersmith and Fulham Council
  • Professor Albert S Chen, University of Exeter
  • James Latham, Principal Flood and Water Management Officer

For members of the public and residents who were not able to attend, you can watch a YouTube of the meeting.

Evidence Session 3

The third evidence session took place on September 29 2022 and focused on the impact on residents and businesses of flooding risks, including the flooding re-insurance scheme, the impact on businesses, and how residents are affected by flood risks. 

Participants in the session included:

  • Harriet Boughton Flood RE
  • Tracey Garrett, Chief Executive National Flood Forum
  • Swenja Surminski, London School of Economics
  • Graham Hart, Economic Development Manager, RBKC
  • James Latham, Flood and Water Management Officer, RBKC

For members of the public and residents who were not able to attend, you can watch a YouTube recording of the meeting.

Evidence session 4

The fourth evidence session took place on Wednesday 19 October 2022. The meeting focused on the London Flood Review and the report into the July 2021 flooding event. 

Participants in the session included:

  • Alex Nickson, Head of London Flood Response, Thames Water
  • Graeme Kasselman, Waste Water Planning System Lead for London, Thames Water
  • Mike Woolgar, Chair, Independent Expert Group
  • Doug Taylor, Consumer Council for Water

For members of the public and residents who were not able to attend, you can watch a YouTube recording of the meeting.

Evidence session 5

The meeting reviewed cross-borough approaches as part of flood risk management in west London and involve other local authorities in the area.

The evidence session took place on 2 November 2022 in committee rooms 3 and 4, at 6.30pm.  Unfortunately, because of technical problems the Council was not able to broadcast the meeting on YouTube.

Final report

The final report of the working group has been published and was discussed at Environment Select Committee on 25 April 2023.

Last updated: 29 July 2025