With the recent heavy rainfall again highlighting the difficulties caused by flooding, Island Roads is again reminding landowners what they should do to help keep the Island’s highway network clear of water.
The Isle of Wight’s highway drainage system is designed to take away rainwater that has fallen onto the road network. It is not designed to carry away additional ‘run off’ water from adjoining land.
Many of the recent highway flooding events have occurred when run-off from adjoining land has overwhelmed the highway drainage system. That is why Island Roads annually reminds landowners – including those with water courses running through their property – of their legal responsibilities to help prevent highway flooding.
Under the Highways Act landowners must ensure adequate land and property drainage systems are in place and to stop water, vegetation and other debris from straying onto the highway. They must also ensure drainage ditches on their land are well maintained and clear of obstruction.
Similarly, anyone who has land adjacent to a watercourse (eg river or stream) has responsibilities in respect of flooding such as maintaining the bed and banks of the watercourse, clearing obstructions and maintaining flood defences.
For its part, Island Roads has a programme of regular gully cleaning and street sweeping which are stepped up in the autumn and winter months in areas known to be prone to flooding. Additional inspections are also carried out reactively, before and after heavy rainfall with any extra appropriate action taken.
Dave Wallis, Island Roads operations and maintenance manager, has said:
“While in the most extreme weather the highway drainage system can still be overwhelmed, there are steps landowners can and should take to reduce that risk.
“There are many instances of highway flooding that have been caused by landowners failing to ensure proper drainage is in place. The result is that run-off water, typically brown in colour, enters the network and overwhelms or blocks highway drainage systems.
“We are always happy to speak to landowners about their legal responsibility to prevent this sort of flooding and what steps they the can or should take. The great majority of landowners do a really good job in managing their land but it only takes one oversight to cause a great deal of local disruption and inconvenience.”
Advice on the responsibilities of landowners is also available in a leaflet called Ditch in produced by Island Roads in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council and the Environment Agency. The leaflet and other advice can be viewed via https://islandroads.com/our-highway-service/autumn-update/.
If it falls under the Highways Act, then surely it becomes enforceable. Shouldn’t a statutory body such as the Environment Agency be policing this rather than a private business like Island Roads?
Exactly. But here on the Island, the landowners know where they stand and exactly what they’ll get away with. And so it goes on. Makes my blood boil.
Council asks for help for not doing their statutory duty, when was the last time they cleaned out the culverts. Additionally logic dictates the more houses you build the less earth there is available to absorb the rain.
Here’s one for you clean the bloody drains and side of roads of soil leaves and crap..which you have’nt done in month’s or year’s..might help outside my house ive clean the drain myself of pine needles so the rain water can flow into drain..your just useless..
So how many landowners have received enforcement action for non compliance with this requirement in the last 20 years? Perhaps Island Echo can find out? Not many, I’ll bet.