County Council Flood Risk Management Strategy

 A Consultation was begun on the above strategy some weeks ago with the deadline for closure on 20 March 2023.  This consultation can be found on https://bit.ly/3Ke9Iwf  or contact flood.team@staffordshire.gov.uk. 

Wrinehill suffers from localised flooding now, on a regular basis.  As a parish councillor for Wrinehill I have submitted eight reports on roads and pavements for this particular part of the parish.  As soon as a resolution is agreed with an SCC officer, the matter is taken higher up the authority chain and things are almost immediately placed on hold.  The usual explanation is 'a lack of funding'.  Given the amount that is paid in Community charge and precept (the latter up 5 per cent for the coming year) then perhaps we need to ask where this money is going since the SCC take the lion's share of the former.  Is this a case of poor management?  We need to know?  

Much of the Strategy is about flood management - which is very necessary but hopefully by now the reasons for flooding should be well known and a strategy should be in place to deal with every eventuality.  The current strategy has not been updated since 2015 although weather conditions have become more extreme globally, and flooding more prevalent nation wide, impacting more on local communities.  To see what actions the SCC and other agencies involved with the issue of flooding intend to take read the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Final Draft on the SCC website.  It seems that the bar is set fairly high before any action is taken - which might explain why Checkley Lane has been left to flood for so long. 

On a minor plus side,  it looked as if the grids had been cleared recently and the water which can stretch right across the lane disappeared for a while.  However, the sludge from the drain was piled on the grass verge waiting to be washed back into the drain at the next downpour - which happened this week. So not quite a plus.  Additionally, the telecom mast installation further along the Lane has given rise to a persistent stream of water coming from underground.  The resolution to this was a ditch dug from the the mast to a grid at the side of the road, into which the water and sludge now flows.  When this drain becomes fully silted up (as are the two drains under the bridge now are) this water will flow into the road and so we will have another flood to deal with.   Half a step forward and three back!   Oh Dear!                

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