Memorandum submitted by Janet Marrott
(FL 07)
I live in a community (Coleford, West Gloucestershire)
where culverts built in the 1800s are now collapsing due to the
speed and quantity of water being forced through them.
My local authority (Forest of Dean District
Council) claims that responsibility for repairs lies with "riparian
owners" who, until culverts erupted within their land, had
no idea they existed.
There are no definitive maps of where these
exist and I maintain that the Statutory Authorities should be
made to accept the responsibility for them as often the eruption
is caused by a blockage in another area.
To my knowledge there has never been any publicity
to make landowners aware of this responsibility and no plan for
ongoing maintenance has ever been proposed.
I recommend that your committee take such cases
into account in their debate.
Janet Marrott
August 2007
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