Contractors for the Environment Agency have been busy working to remove debris from waterways, including at Monktonmead in Ryde, to reduce the risk of flooding.
It may seem strange to talk about flooding during what has been a long, dry spell of weather, but the important work carried out protects communities at risk of flooding when the rain returns.
As previously reported by Island Echo, fly-tipping is on the rise on the Isle of Wight and, although the Isle of Wight Council said that a big issue was fly-tipping in towns and not necessarily in the countryside, the significance of rural fly-tipping can potentially have a devastating impact.
John O’Flynn, Operations Manager at the Environment Agency, has this week said:
“Brighstone Landscaping recently removed items including an illegally fly-tipped radiator from Monktonmead Brook which pose a flood risk to Ryde by blocking screens during high flows occurring during events such as thunderstorms.”
The firm also recently cleared significant debris blocking a culvert on Palmers Brook near Wootton.
As well as the flood risks, there is also the question of the environmental impact caused by the presence of such debris in our already polluted waterways.
Don’t forget the hedge and roadside trimmings that are left for the traffic to disperse on the highway and then get washed into the roadside culverts to block the drains which then flood the roads. I have had to frequently clean the gully outside of my house to stop the road from flooding my driveway.
Yet Governments dump sewage in the Sea