Highways Drainage schemes in Grove

Speech by Cllr Zoe Patrick delivered to Cabinet on Tue 18th Mar 2008

I have come here today in support of the Cabinet's recommended Highways schemes in the hope that work on these will be done sooner than later.

I spent all Sunday with residents in my division who were flooded, and in particular regarding 5. North Drive/Oxford Lane - the Fire & Rescue Service had to come out to pump out the houses at the end of North Drive as they would otherwise have been flooded out. This is not a good use of council resources if everytime it rains we have to call out the Fire Brigade to deal with the problems. Some of the drainage work involves Thames Water, and they certainly need to play their full part too in getting this dealt with, and I hope that we work together to do this in the interests of our residents.

Other schemes which need dealing with urgently are Cane Lane which was a torrent of water at the weekend due to run-off from the Recreation Ground. Again, some of this work involves Highways where the drains and gulleys have become blocked so the water overtops and runs straight down the road. Luckily, no homes were flooded this time, but residents were certainly very worried.

Finally, the scheme to alleviate flooding at Vale Avenue and Main Street needs addressing where work is needed to upsize the drainage system and certainly blockages around the back of the shops at Millbrook Square (Pill Ditch) needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

All these works need action sooner rather than later and I will be providing evidence to the officer concerned to ensure this happens.