As Richard Lambourne has pointed out in a recent comment, the District Council’s new “Forum For Surface Water Issues meets next week. We have it confirmed in writing that the public, and councillors who are not members, can attend. We are still waiting for confirmation that they can speak.
Forum for Surface Water Flooding Issues
23 July 2014, 7pm, Room 4 >Rayleigh Civic Suite
Agenda
Membership
Cllr T G Cutmore Cllr B T Hazlewood
Cllr K H Hudson Cllr Mrs J A Mockford
Cllr C G Seagers Cllr D J Sperring
Cllr I H Ward
Budget
Watery Lane
Hedgehope Avenue ? confirm satisfactory completion of works
Sweyne Park
Highways hotspots ? progress (Spa Road Hockley, Hall Road Rochford, Rectory Road, Hawkwell, and Church Road, Hockley)
Kingsmead Cottages, Barling Road
Salem Walk & Fairmead Rayleigh
Westminster Drive Hockley
Riverside Industrial Estate and the Horse and Groom Pub
Laburnham Way Rayleigh
Rochford reservoir outfall ? maintenance works
Fairmead and Salem Walk, Rayleigh
Any Other Business
And what about Church Road in Rawreth – again not mentioned!
Salem Walk and Fairmead listed twice – so maybe Church Rd could take one of those slots?????.
Lot of water standing on London Road this morning from Carpenters to Traveller’s Joy, especially near the petrol station. Both sides of the road affected. Drains appear blocked
Hullbridge Road could be a problem if the ditch is not cleared properly with machinery. It needs more than just a few peolep.
Christine,
I pointed that to mr Scrutton And was told it is a strategic route and therefore the responsibility of ECC
Who is pushing ECC? I would say no one, that is why it floods every time it rains
Richard, that’s the joy of Local Government isn’t it. There is always someone to pass the buck to and no-one has the “the buck stops here” sign on their desk.
Looks very interesting. I am very pleased that this has been set up. I would attend but I have another engagement . I hope the meeting is constructive and goes well.
Point 3 from Christine, I think a water main burst Saturday morning, as I saw water coming out of the footpath at about 10:30am and reported it to Anglian Water
Has anyone checked the result of yesterdays downpour? To a degree it was so heavy that it came down faster than it could drain away. Several houses in the London Rd, Victoria Ave, Maine Crescent area were badly affected. Fortunately the neighbours set to & lent a hand with pumps & elbow grease. One family had only been back in their property a week, following the previous floods!The water seemed to be flowing from the London Rd, & the culvert that runs through the estate was overflowing.
I understand about cutbacks, prioritising expenditure etc, but this has to be balanced againt emergency repairs, calling out the emergency services, & repairing homes, even rehousing, albeit temporarily, any families flooded out. Many for a second or third time!
As Christine says, who is going to accept responsibility? Where does “the Buck” actually come to rest?
I am sure there are several housholders round here who would love to know!
I visited 3 locations yesterday afternoon, ( Canterbury Close, Trenders Avenue and Laburnum Way ) will write some more tonight.
Janet Warner
The particlar thing about this subject is that largely it shouldnt cost local authorties any real money except time and effort to chase and monitor the proposed works. The primary respennsibilty lies with Anglian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, and landowners who are respensible to keep ditches and drains open
The effort should be to inspect ditches and drains and identify areas where work is needed, then push the landowner to carry out remedial work
The envronment Agency can issue enforcement notices to landowners to enforce them to fulfil their obligations
Local istrict and Town/Parish Councilloors are good focal points to lead and push this effort but unfortunately not all are up to the job or as motivated as the Lib Dems, Greens or Independants are !!
W£hat a cop out please read this drivel and I leave you all to comment
http://www.rochford.gov.uk/press-release/flooding-advisory-group-meeting-be-postponed
Flooding Advisory Group Meeting to be postponed
.Date: Tuesday, 22 July 2014.
The Flooding Advisory Group Meeting that was due to convene on Wednesday , July 23, has been postponed.
The meeting brings groups such as Anglian Water, Essex Highways and the Environment Agency together with the Council to discuss measures that need to be taken.
Cllr Terry Cutmore, the Leader of Rochford District Council and Chairman of this committee, said: “We have been advised by the Environment Agency that they will not be able to send the appropriate engineers to this meeting at this time as they have to work around the clock to try to resolve urgent matters resulting from the recent storms.
“Essex County Council, the specific flood authority, is similarly stretched. We are of the view that the immediacy of this urgent work must take precedence and have therefore decided to postpone our meeting.
“The District Council’s desire to ensure that all relevant authorities come together to determine the way forward to assist with surface water flood amelioration remains as strong as it has ever been; we have already been instrumental in encouraging other organisations and individuals to resolve some of the surface water drainage problems afflicting parts of our community and we intend to continue to build on this success.”
Following last weekend’s flooding, Rochford District Council offered a free collection service for flood-damaged goods. The Council’s waste collection contractors, SITA, was tasked with clearing debris from roads affected by the waters.
Councillor Cutmore added: “As a Council we have been doing all we can to help residents who have been affected by flooding, as we know how devastating it must have been for the families who were affected last weekend.
“However the lead local flood authority is Essex County Council, with their highways department dealing with surface water drainage on the roads and pavements for which they are responsible. Other responsibilities fall under the remit of Anglian Water and the Environment Agency.
“This is the reason we set up Flooding Advisory Group meetings earlier this year, as we felt it was crucial to get the partner agencies all get together around a table. This enables us to determine who is responsible for various works, and ensure they are carried out.
“The aim is that we are working together towards a common purpose, and together we can reduce the risk of flooding in the Rochford District.”
The meeting has been postponed until late August, the date will be publicised as soon as it is confirmed.
If you still need to use the free collection service for any flood damaged goods please contact the customer service team at Rochford District Council on 01702 318111 to arrange collection or e-mail us using this form
……
Probably aware ,via watching Facebook, that a lot of people were planning to attend on the back of Sundays “near miss ” by many of the people only just moved back into their flood damaged homes from last year. I don’t buy that the “suits” who would be attending are out there clearing ditches etc; – hopefully the school holidays in August
will not limit the attendance ……….
Yes maybe Church Road could take one of those slots!! Like many others is was only neighbours pulling together that stopped houses flooding.