Councillor slams county's lack of flood team staff to deal with water-logging issues in Hadleigh area

By Siobhan Middleton (local democracy reporter)

3rd Jan 2023 | Local News

Robert Lindsay at another flooded road
Robert Lindsay at another flooded road

A Suffolk councillor is calling for flooding to be tackled as a road on his patch has spent 30 days since November water-logged.

Green Cllr Robert Lindsay blamed the poor drainage on the road between Preston St Mary and Kettlebaston on a lack of staff at county council level.

Cllr Lindsay said: "This particular bit of road near Kettlebaston has flooded every time there is heavy rain for the past two or three years.

"This is a popular area for walkers and now it is very difficult for any pedestrian to get through.

"Cars have got stuck during heavy rain and the water is muddy so you cannot see whether there are sharp flints or other obstacles underneath the water.

"The road was flooded for 16 days from mid-November and has now flooded again since a week before Christmas.

"Although Suffolk County Council's flood and drainage team has been out in the past and cleared channels for the water to drain away, they acknowledge this is only a temporary solution as the channels clog up again quite quickly with mud.

"The drainage on this stretch of road needs to be redesigned but I am told this site is not a priority.

"The drainage team was allocated £10 million a year ago to deal with flood issues like this – of which there are nearly 1,000.

"I think the problem lies with the lack of staff to undertake and project manage the work rather than the money.

"With climate change, this problem is not going to go away."

Cllr Lindsay explained the Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent group of councillors had asked the county council to add a staff member to its flood and drainage team to its budget last year, but this was voted down.

He said the group may repeat its calls for improved staffing.

Mac Speake, who lives near the road to Kettlebaston, said: "The area floods pretty much every time it rains for more than three hours, and then it takes several days to clear because all the drains are blocked.

"I run along the path that floods, and the only way I could possibly get through it without soaking my running shoes would be to wear wellingtons.

"So, I have to take another route."

     

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