Agenda item

Flooding issues in the ward

Minutes:

Chris Pinder from CYC and 4 reps from Yorkshire Water were in attendance. 

Cllr Galloway updated residents on events so far;

Heavy flooding on 6th August.  Foxwood was very badly hit.  It was the rain 2 weeks later that did the main damage to properties.

 

Gary Collins, Service Recovery Engineer for Yorkshire Water gave an update of events and work in progress.

o       Yorkshire Water are aware of the issues in Foxwood Lane and Rogers Court

o       On the 17th August one of the pumps at the pumping station on Foxwood Lane burnt out.  When one pump fails then one of the other pumps should come on. On this occasion the mechanism failed.  This issue has now been addressed and measures put in place for this not to happen again.

o       This pump station does not have an alarm system that most sites have.  So our headquarters in Bradford were unaware of the problem.  We will now put an alarm system in there.

o       Regarding the foul sewage.  With the heavy rain it was all going in the combined sewer.  It was very difficult to pinpoint where along the system the problem is. Yorkshire Water has cleaned parts of it and we will continue to look at that length of the sewer and address all problems.

o       We are planning a cycle to clean the length of sewer on Foxwood Lane and we will periodically check with cameras when it needs cleaning.

o       There have been issues with fat in this sewer.  We are going to be approaching the take aways in the area and look at how they are getting rid of their waste.

 

Residents then had the opportunity to ask questions and raise any further issues.

·        Wouldn’t a more powerful pump solve the problem?

o       The problem was not about the pumps unable to do their job, they had just burnt out.

·        There are a lot more houses in the area now than when the pump was first built, so maybe it is unable to cope with the extra demand?

o       It is not over loaded.

·        You need to get to the bottom of the problem as it has got worse over the years.  We have been promised things that have not been happening.  More money needs to be invested in the pipework.

o       Cllrs always seek advice from Yorkshire Water whenever a new development or buildings are going up.

o       It seems that it is fat and silt that are blocking the pipes

·        I never got an adequate response to the problems.  Toilet backs up and I cannot use it for days at a time.  There are a lot of properties in Foxwood that do not report things as they think nothing will be done about it.

·        All residents should report it.  If we do need to work on the pipes we will need capital funding, so the more complaints and reports we have the more we can justify the cost.

Cllr Galloway asked what would now happen in the future.  Gary Collins reported that.

·        Yorkshire Water are to proactively clean it and check the siphon.  We will also check the longer lengths of the sewer to rule each area out as a problem.

·        Have you stopped maintaining the pumping station and the surrounding area, as it is an eyesore?

o       No and we are putting an action plan in place for this.

·        How often to the Council clean the drains?

o       These are cleaned annually.

·        Why did I get a letter that Yorkshire Water are taking no responsibility and are not liable for my house being flooded?

o       This seems to be a misunderstanding and we will look in to your issues.

 

Cllr Galloway thanked all representatives from attending and Yorkshire Water spoke to some residents in private after this agenda item.

 

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