“We must work together to tackle the flooding issues that damaged 12 properties in Bembridge – that was the message from an Isle of Wight councillor after receiving a much-awaited flooding report”.
Following the severe flooding, 1 village resident had to move out of their home and was still living in temporary accommodation 9 months later.
The Old Village Inn was also flooded and in some locations it reached around 1ft deep and took up to 10 hours to recede. Damage has also been estimated to have cost between £11,000 and £100,000.
Bembridge representative, Councillor Joe Robertson, is asking for funding to be made available, equivalent to what has been promised to other areas, such as Binstead where £170,000 had been approved for mitigation works.
The council’s flood report detailed the stress and the disruption caused to residents, and the worry of future flooding resulting in anxiety, depression and loss of sleep.
During the heavy rainfall last summer, 1 event, between 28th-29th June, was classified as a severe rainfall event with only a 2-5% chance of it happening within any year. The rain caused surface water runoff above the capacity of the highway drainage and sewer networks, despite scheduled drainage maintenance having already taken place.
The report says the efficiency of the drainage system to intercept and convey flows was impeded by narrow in-kerb slot drains and blockages. Gravel from village roads had been washed down into the drains, causing some of the blockages, but as they are unadopted the council could not make any changes.
It is recommended the council look at a surface water management plan for the village, implementation of a property flood-resilience scheme and appraise the feasibility of providing rain gardens.
Cllr Robertson welcomed the report but said it took a long time to publish and the recommendations need to be implemented with greater urgency. He said the council, Island Roads, Southern Water and others must now work together to resolve the unique issues. He said:
“This report cannot be left to gather dust on a shelf while additional homes are plumbed into a drainage network that is not understood.”
A field, which developers want for over 150 homes, has impermeable geology and should be taken out of the council’s 15-year land supply, said Cllr Robertson. However, the report suggests further development in the village offers a way of mitigating the water run-off.
It would help if the drains were cleaned out, years ago there was loads of them doing the rounds, now I think island roads only have 2 of them
When you cut through the gobbledygook from any report what is left is a few facts,scheduled drainage maintence carried out, was it and when becuase the report then says the gravel had been washed into the system causing blockages, that did not happen in one downpour, it all came from village unadopted roads, a highly unlikely assumption , Rain gardens work in small areas but will not have any effect in a whole village environment ,the report suggests further development in the village which offers a way of mitigating the water run off, total and utter nionsense, you concrete over something it is no longer permaneable geology, who wrote this report a GCSE student.
Now, this will be interesting…
The poor residents of Arreton and Binstead have experienced severe flooding, Binstead in particular has suffered for a number of years, yet, here we are, the good residents of Bembridge look as if their needs are being trumpeted as more important than the other ‘oiks’ who have suffered again and again!
Time will tell…
I remember years ago residents would go out with a broom, spade or stick and try to move the leaves and debris from the drain covers, sometimes several times, when they started to get a water build up, allowing the water to flow again, take it no one does this, or thinks to do this, anymore? 9 times out of 10 its just leaves laying on the top of covers that stop the water flowing.
Perhaps the problem is aided by well heeled residents allowing hot tubs, jacuzzis swimming pools and baths large enough to swim in to overload the crumbling sewer network.
If more social and affordable housing were built in the village perhaps the impoverished residents, after removing the coal first, would cause less harm with five inches of bath water on a Sunday evening.
Odd how every other area has to cope with housing shoe horned into every available space, yet Bembridge sewers are unable to handle a few extra houses in the largest village.
A coincidence that prolific builders live there too so not a case of ‘Not in my back meadow’ perhaps?
I don’t get it, in the 70’s there ware never issues with flooding there, yet nowadays, every year. Almost like something is rising, maybe because it’s getting warmer. Mmmmm. Almost like the idiots down the pub were wrong and the people who have spent all their life studying the subject were right.
Humans are making the climate change for the worse, it’s fact, get over it.