One Great George Street (Thomas Telford Theatre), London on Wednesday 31 October.

The Conference is open to delegates from Internal Drainage Boards, the Environment Agency, and those Local Authorities and Companies who are Associate Members of ADA. For your organisation to become an Associate Member of ADA please visit our Membership page.

Guest speakers: TBC (details of the speakers and the Question Time panel will be published here during the Summer).

Keynote speaker: TBC (details of this year's Keynote speaker will be published here later in the summer and on the ADA News Stream once details have been finalised).

Please contact the ADA Office for further details on 020 8399 7350 or admin@ada.org.uk.

Conference Location

The ADA Conference 2012 will be held at One Great George Street Westminster, London, SW1P 3AA (www.onegreatgeorgestreet.com).

How to find us: location map, directions and public transport information below:

On Foot: Walking directions can be found on www.walkit.com.

By London Underground: Both Westminster (Exit 6) on the District, Circle and Jubilee lines, and St James's Park on the District and Circle lines, are just 5 minutes walk away. For more information, visit the Transport for London website.

By Rail: London's mainline stations at Waterloo, Victoria and Charing Cross are minutes away by foot or by Underground. For further information visit the National Rail website.

By Bus: Numerous bus routes pass within a 1-2 minute walk of One Great George Street. Bus routes stopping near Parliament Square include: 3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 77a, 88, 148, 159, 211 and 453. For further information visit the Transport for London website.

By Car: Parking is available at Westminster City Council's car parks in Abingdon Street and on the south side of Trafalgar Square. Limited meter parking is also available in and around adjacent streets.

Disabled Parking: The nearest Blue Badge disabled parking bay is located on Matthew Parker Street (drive down Storey's Gate to the west of the venue and take the second right). Alternatively, a little further away, there are bays on Old Queen Street and Queen Anne's Gate. These Blue Badge bays offer free parking for up to 4 hours between 08.30 and 18.30 Mon-Fri and unlimited parking at any other time. Please see Westminster Council's website for further information.

Congestion Charge: One Great George Street lies within the charging area. For more information, including charges, visit the Transport for London website.

Click here to view full list of downloadable documents of previous Conference and seminar presentations.

ADA Conference 2011

2011 saw the Annual Conference being held at One Great George Street (home of the Institute of Civil Engineers) in London – a location chosen by the Committee to best satisfy attendees ease of access. The venue set the scene of the most received Conference yet.

Henry Cator (Chairman) encouraged ADA's Members and those involved in water level management (WLM) to keep up their hard work and efforts, and also highlighted the enhancement of ADA communications to its Members and the public – through such means as the ADA News Stream and ADA Gazette – with the growth of the ADA Team.

Keynote speaker: Professor Tim O'Riordan OBE (Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia) spoke of calls for drainage to embrace natural systems, and the importance of local knowledge for decision/policy making in the WLM industry. Other guest speakers included: Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Defra's Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, House of Lords); Owen Tarrant (Environment Agency); and Jeroen Flikweert (Royal Haskoning).

The return of 'Question Time' saw Member's raise a number of important issues for discussion (including topics of flood insurance, role of Lead Local Flood Authorities, local planning and Local Authority representation on IDBs). The panel: Peter Batesman (Chief Executive and Finance Manager, Witham Fourth District IDB); David Sisson (ADA's Honorary Senior Policy Advisor, and Chief Engineer of Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board); Jean Venables (Chief Executive, ADA); and David Rooke (Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management, Environment Agency).

ADA Conference 2010

The 2010 Annual Conference for the Association of Drainage Authorities was held in conjunction with the Flood Risk Management 2010 Exhibition at the East of England Showground.

New to 2010 was 'Question Time' where members of the Association were able to ask a Panel of Experts in their field, the subject of food security featured prominently. The Panel were: George Wisz (Audit Commission), Phil Rothwell (Environment Agency), Dean Jackson-Johns (Caldicot and Wentlooge), Jean Venables (ADA) and Sass Willis (Cambridgeshire County Council). The guest speaker for the Conference was Laura Nola from the Associazione Nazionale Bonifiche Irrigazioni who discussed sustainable and environmental irrigation in Italy.

The Association hosted a reception and Gala Dinner in the evening where Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, was the Chief Guest. Lord Smith's pre-dinner speech focused on his reflections of the Environment Agency's new flooding overview role and National Strategy for Flood Risk Management.

ADA Conference 2009

In 2009, the ADA Conference focused on issues surrounding the draft Flood and Water Management Bill and its likely implications for ADA's membership. Huw Irranca-Davies MP (Minister of State for Marine and Natural Environment) was ADA’s chief guest. Robert Runcie (EA Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management) called for closer working between IDBs and the Environment Agency. Richard Will (Director for Development, Lincolnshire County Council) described the development of the Lincolnshire Flood Risk and Drainage Management Framework. Prof Joe Morris (Professor of Resource Economics & Management, Cranfield University) discussed ways of providing integrated floodplains through an ecosystem approach, matching land use with drainage needs.

ADA Conference 2008

The 2008 Annual Conference of the Association of Drainage Authorities was held on Thursday 18 September 2008 as part of the Catchment '08 Exhibition at the East of England Showground.

In 2008, conference speakers included Roger Hargreaves (Head of the Pitt Review) who discussed the Government's direction following the Pitt Review into the floods of Summer 2007, Tim Farr (Chairman to the Severn Trent Regional Flood Defence Committee) who looked at the implication of Defra’s Review of IDBs, Chris De Grouchy (Head of Water Management, Defra) and Prof. Laura Nola (Chief Executive of the Associazione Nazionale Bonifiche Irrigazioni, Italy) who described the role of water level management and irrigation in Italy. These speakers presented to a gathering of over 300 delegates. Anne McIntosh MP for the Vale of York and Shadow Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs gave the Keynote Address at the Conference.

ADA Conference 2007

The 2007 ADA Conference was held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough for the first time on 31st October 2007. Phil Woolas MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth and Minister of State for the Environment gave the annual address focusing on the importance of long sighted governance and the need for greater use of water collection, reuse and permeable paving to reduce rapid run-off from heavy rainfall.