Last week locally we had some very rainy days, not quite deluges, but not far short.
Protection against flooding was probably my enduring concern while I served as a councillor on Surrey Heath Borough Council. [Type flooding in the search box to find the many, many posts on the topic].I’ve spoken before about the impact on me in talking to householders in Lightwater who’s homes were flooded two years running. The borough council’s drainage engineer put a flood protection plan in place and over eight years has ensured year-on-year improvement in that protection. I believe work is ongoing.
In standing down from the council I didn’t want to become a busybody afterward, and so I’ve kept out of local issues. I couldn’t entirely switch off from flood watch. I visited the Lightwater stream and found it very full, but not over-topping its banks. There are reports that some gardens and garages were flooded – though I don’t have the data.
The point of this blog post is to state, in my experience, that investment and actions in local flood protection has been both beneficial and effective.
Our garden was badly flooded a few weeks ago. I’d post a photo if I could, but suffice to say we escaped a house flood by the skin of our teeth. Not sure the the problem has been resolved.
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Paul, I’ve spoken with others we had a narrow escape too. I’d email wayne.purdon@surreyheath.gov.uk – the borough’s drainage engineer, with as much information as you can. Important to collect data on flooding.
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Just to add to this I was in touch with Wayne a couple of weeks ago. What a star. He sent me a detailed and very researched analysis with a few options the following day. Very, very impressed and a credit to Surrey CC. Now the fun begins to get a solution to our gaqrden which seems to spend most of it’s time under water, or at the least a soggy mess.
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