Agenda item

Councillors Wayne Bridges and Pat Jackson attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         Regent Avenue had suffered flooding for two consecutive years with 2016 being only slightly worse than the previous year.  Although the last serious flooding reported to Thames Water (TW) prior to this had been 25-30 years ago, there had been instances since then that just had not been reported.  When TW had been contacted, the complaint process had been so onerous that only three residents had completed and returned their complaint forms;

·         In 2016, there had been 12-18 inches of water and water had bubbled up from the drains.  The properties in Regent Avenue backed onto a green space which drained into their gardens, submerging them or, at one property, flooding inside the house.  In addition, the sewers in the gardens of some properties had also overflowed.  Properties in Windsor Avenue and elsewhere on the Oak Farm Estate had also been affected; 

·         A lot of surface water ran into Regent Avenue and it was suggested that the flooding in the road had been caused by a combination of an inadequate sewer system and excess surface water; and

·         A new drainage system had been installed in Elephant Park but flooding was becoming more prevalent.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He noted that there had been 223 reports of flooding in Hillingdon on 23 June 2016 and that this situation had been replicated across London.  A lot of the drainage system was still of Victorian origin and the replacement programme was just getting underway.  The Council would continue to maintain the gullies in the road and residents were asked to report any gullies that needed clearing. 

It was noted that climate change had impacted on flooding and Councillor Burrows sympathised with those affected.  He asked that officers write to TW on his behalf (copying in the local MP) enclosing evidence that had been gathered by the Council and by residents and requesting that TW look into this issue in Regent Avenue.  TW would be advised that, although 2016 might be perceived to have been 'exceptional circumstances', significant flooding had also occurred in 2015.  Ward Councillors would be sent the response received from TW. 

The petitioners were asked to forward copies of any evidence that they had in relation to this issue to Council officers.  In addition, officers would ensure that information was available on the Council website in relation to action that could be taken by residents to protect their properties.  This information could also be distributed to residents by the Ward Councillors. 

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.    noted and listened to the residents who had suffered a flooding incident on the 23 June 2016 and sympathised with their concerns regarding flooding; 

2.    noted that, on 23 June 2016, a ‘Flood Guidance Statement - AMBER: Surface Water, YELLOW: River’ was issued for parts of London and Essex as parts of the capital endured a month’s rain in a matter of hours and, furthermore, that there were reports of flooded streets as storms caused disruption;

3.    noted that in Hillingdon there were 223 flooding incidents reported to the Council;

4.    noted that the relevant surface water gullies were maintained by the Council and that residents acknowledge that the flooding was not caused by a lack of maintenance of these;

5.    noted that the main sewer network, which the gullies drained into, was maintained and managed by Thames Water Utilities (TW), and that residents had correctly reported the flooding to Thames Water;

6.    instructed officers write to TW on his behalf, submitting details of the findings and a copy of the petition to urge them to bring forward proposals to upgrade the drainage system in order to prevent future flooding incidents, and for officers to report back to the Cabinet Member on TW’s response; and

7.    instructed officers to inform Green Spaces of the issues raised with regard to the Council owned playing field where water ran off into adjoining gardens and report back to the Cabinet Member. 

Reason for recommendations:

On 23 June 2016, a month’s rain fell in a few hours which caused flash flooding across the Borough causing some of our roads to become submerged under water.  The gullies in this road were last cleaned on 19 May 2016.

The road network was overwhelmed due to the excessive rainfall in a short period of time. This indicates that there was inadequate drainage capacity for such a heavy rainfall. As TW is responsible for the capacity of the drainage network, it is suggested that TW investigate and clear their sewers and, if no issues found, include this area in their programme of work for increasing capacity.

Alternative options considered / risk management

The Council's Highways Service is responsible for clearing gullies and they do so on a regular basis. Additionally further ad-hoc inspections are carried out after receipt of concern relating to blocked gullies on the public highway.

It is to be noted that the majority of residents along this road have hard paved their front garden to create driveways. This has added to the amount of surface water running from housing on to the road and into the sewers. There are also ways that residents can take action to reduce the amount of water entering the sewer, by digging up a small part of a driveway to create a permeable area, or installing a collector drain at the end of the driveway to direct it to a permeable area. Further information on what can be done can be found on the Council website, under "Sustainable Drainage".