I am concerned at the number of ditches that have been piped (or going to the piped) due to new developments. What will happen when the pipes silt up? where will the surface water go? Who authorises the piping of ditches to ensure that the correct pipe size is used? Some ditches are being quietly piped on fields that will affect existing properties further along.
I think most people would have noticed the road drains in Station Road that overflowed onto the busy road and remained like that for weeks in February and March. I heard this was because of the level crossing blockage?
The Station Road field ditches, near the church, were also flooded with nonmoving stagnant water at the highest brink for weeks.
Spooner Row is situated in a river valley and proper drainage needs to be maintained for essential drainage into the river or someone needs to sort out the installation of some significant new drainage infrastructure.
Completely agree This has been an issue raised with the Planning dept for many years and all we get is a high brow wonderful report prepared by the applicants consutants telling that this will work and that will work and that there will be no issues.
Planners agree , sometimes even without a report in place ( reserved matter) and then they simply walk away and leave the Highways and owners to clear up and pay for the mess as they have no accountability and they know it once it has all been passed and knowing that the whole village is at risk
It makes my blood boil
The new plan however for the whole area does AT LAST recognise that there are issues ( see the call for sites document and commentary on the ones identified ) but then they pass the applications anyway as they did in Station road even though the report on the proposed site , as it did in that case, recognised it as a flood risk.
The developers cannot build these irresponsible developments, which put residents and their properties at risk, without the go-ahead from the District Council, it is ultimately the Council's responsibility. Those at the Council won't always be able to decide whatever they like and be held unaccountable to just walk away and expect everyone else to sort out their mess. Throughout the country, people are getting fed-up with this cavalier attitude from Councils.
For info . The drainage problem in Station Rd from the level crossing to the school is due to Network Rail blocking off the drainage outlet into drainage ditch when they modified the crossing about 4 years ago. NWR were fully aware of this but did it anyway !! It took me 3 1/2 years of " negotiating " with NWR to rectify the situation because every time it rained our driveway was flooded . NWR did nothing to help it was the Highways Dept who did some remedial work to solve part of the issue . All through this situation NWR kept moving the goalposts which stopped the Highways Dept from carrying out the necessary work . There is a plan in place to overhaul the drainage in Station Rd this July but it may not happen as there has been a plan to do this work in each school summer holiday since 2016 ,NWR have always withdrawn there permission at the 11th hour !
I wonder who allowed NWR to get away with blocking off such an important drainage system, particularly as it drains directly into the river on the HGV route through the village? No wonder peoples driveways and the road floods. It doesn't take much in Spooner Row for localised flooding to occur. Recently there has been flooding on Guilers Lane and problems on the new Bunwell Road development due to the piping of the ditch, see previous thread.
No one allowed them to do it , Network Rail have total maintenance control over the railway and approximately 50m either side of level crossing hence the reason why they are not accountable to anyone and why they can have a major say what happens on Station Rd
As NWR have total control for 50m from the level crossing, then doesn't that make them accountable? Can your house insurance claim back from them the damage caused? This would apply to anyone who is affected.
Everyone I spoke to SDDC , Highways Dept , Local MP etc regarding Station Rd flooding issue told me NWRail are virtually immune to all issues unless it is in their interest . NWR did not pay a penny towards remedial work carried out it was funded by us the taxpayer via Highways Dept
This is ludicrous. What a lot of worry for you Andy and the blocked drains are still causing problems on Station Road.
As Network Rail can damage the highway and block off drains and remain unaccountable then something is seriously wrong with the system. Why should the Highways Department be the ones to sort it out with taxpayers money? This is something the local MP should be looking at.
Bunwell Road near the new development was again flooded with water like a river flowing down the road making walking and driving dangerous. Also the end houses nearly had their drives flooded again. This keeps happening and it doesn't seem that any action to resolve this problem is taken. This was an issue before the new development and is now just a lot worse.
I did report it to South Norfolk Council yesterday.
This worsening and dangerous situation has been caused by South Norfolk Council's decision to provide planning permission to develop this site on Bunwell Road. For them to ignore this regular flooding problem is not an option. What is South Norfolk Council going to do about it? I am glad it has been reported, again.
Sadly they ( the Planners) have ignored the flooding and once planning permission is given they simply walk away.
Highways at County and the developers I suspect will be left to pick up the tab and having been out and about today there are several dangerously flooded roads , blocked gullies all over Norfolk BUT we know here in the village EXACTLY where the problem sites are but we are just simple locals who obviously can be ignored and treated with contempt.
Whilst Planning apparently hails localism as a great champion . The reality is it counts for nothing when compared to house building pressures and rate revenue income, the lion's share of which goes to Norfolk County of course before this is pointed out by others. ( And of course goes to pay for the NCC Councillors 11% pay rise as well )
The councils have got their priorities all wrong - an 11% pay rise!! Are they worth it?
SNC and their planners may be getting away with it for now but I don't believe this will always be so. They have a responsibility to the communities they serve. To knowingly put properties at risk with unsafe planning consents and then walk away is not morally or ethically right.
During Easter Monday the rainwater flowed down School Lane like a river for a while, like it does on many occasions.
Just at the location where they are going to build the new houses, the field was so waterlogged there was a large pool - it was there for days. Great to watch the birds bathing in it (I think I saw a couple of ducks), but not great to develop houses on. The School Lane ditches aren't draining away properly either. I can't believe the District Council voted this site to be a good place to build new homes, let alone put existing ones opposite at further risk. The Environment Agency is absolutely right in identifying the location as a high surface water flood risk area.
The only thing that might make people sit up and think will be the availability of home insurance for homes built on this piece of land which is a high risk flood zone.
The new Flood Re solution for properties built in flood areas does not extent to properties built post 2009. If it is not possible to purchase insurance for the full range of perils it will be difficult to raise a mortgage on such roperties or to sell them on. Interesting article on properties built in flood plains can be found here: www.groundsure.com/news/building-flood-plain/
Small developments of 10 homes or less can be built without approval from the Environment Agency which is probably why we see new homes being built on unsuitable sites. In this case however, it does appear that a flood assessment was carried out (https://info.south-norfolk.gov.uk/online-applications/files/F2A0FD2FFC0B8BF93FA5672BF0ADC2B0/pdf/2012_2016-FLOOD_RISK_ASSESSMENT-758818.pdf) but this was done (and presumably planning permission granted) prior to the new Flood & Water Management Act coming into force.
The District Council is fully aware that home insurance has been difficult to obtain in School Lane due to the flood risk in the past, although I am not sure how difficult it is to obtain now. The District Council was made aware of the problems with purchasing home insurance during the public consultations when the School Lane site was selected and allocated as a development site within the S. Norfolk Local Plan. Planning permission for this site was granted in 2017 for seven dwellings rather than the allocated five.
It would be interesting to see if the new houses have the issues you suggest due to being built post-2009. One of the ridiculous aspects of this site is that the attenuation pond for surface water run-off will be situated at the end of the row of new houses and uphill from where the waterlogged pool of rainwater collects. I always thought that water couldn't flow up uphill, but still, I am sure the experts at the District Council know better.
The flood management scheme to be put in place with this development (as a consequence of the flood assessment) is of little worth, as any enforcement will be at the discretion of the local authorities and we all know about council cutbacks. There has been no evidence of enforcement applied elsewhere where ditches have been left either unmanaged, inadequately piped or cut-off and blocked e.g. Station Road.
Flooding is a problem in Spooner Row. The Gov.UK website has a document about insurance and the risk of flooding from surface water, which states:
Insurance
The risk of flooding from surface water map and data is available to insurers who may use it alongside other information to inform their decisions. Insurers are free to use whichever data they like to determine whether to offer insurance and at what price. Some insurers already have and use their own surface water information. How insurers decide to set premiums and excesses is up to them. The Environment Agency and local authorities have no role in determining insurance cover. If you are selling or buying a house, an assessment of flood risk is included in standard solicitor’s searches. Whilst the Environment Agency’s information is not property specific, making it available to be included in these assessments, allows the prospective purchaser to understand risks in the area of the property and make better informed decisions about their purchase.
