Memorandum submitted by the Coleford Area
Market and Coastal Towns Initiative Partnership (FL 105)
This submission is on behalf of the above named
organisation which is involved in development of a community led
regeneration strategy for the Parish of Coleford, West Gloucestershire
and its surrounding area.
FLOODING ISSUES
DURING JUNE
AND JULY
2007 AND THEIR
EFFECT ON
THE COLEFORD
AREA
Executive Summary
The flooding that happened during June and July
2007 is not without precedent in the Coleford area, but the speed
and ferocity was not experienced to such a degree in such a short
period of time.
The problems faced in Coleford area are not
unusual, being:
(a) Failure of government to accede to the
needs for finance local authorities to enable local authorities
to maintain and improve surface water drainage systems to cope
with additional development within the area.
(b) Failure to identify responsibility for
existing drainage ditches and culverts constructed in the Victorian
era, leaving this liability to an unsuspecting public as being
riparian owners. (Land Drainage Act 1991)
(c) Failure to allow sewage authorities to
raise additional funding to deal with known problems of ingress
of surface water into the foul drainage system and to plan for
the future to ensure this does not continue in the future.
All of these problems have resulted in an infrastructure
that, at best, did not satisfy the needs of the community before
extensive development that has taken place over the past 50 years.
Local authorities have worked together well
in providing emergency care but previous attention to the above
issues would have meant that the emergencies could have been averted.
Coleford, West Gloucestershire: Flooding Problems
2007
1. Topography: The area of land covered
by this report is a large basin with shallow top-soil on a clay
bed leading to a narrow winding valley. Previous heavy rain led
to the upper soil levels being saturated and the lack of ability
for further penetration to lower levels. Levels from the rim of
the basin begin at over 700 feet above sea level to a level at
the point of entry into the River Wye of more than 200 feet above
sea level. None of the area can therefore be classed as a flood
plain in the normally accepted sense.
Approximately 1 inch of rain falling in the area
produces in the region of 45 million gallons of water draining
through a narrow valley, the head of which is near the town itself.
On 25th June alone 59 properties in the small town were reported
as being affected, that quantity having fallen in a few hours.
2. Existing land drainage: The drainage
system comprises Victorian culverts running for a distance over
more that 1.5 miles. They are fed by the confluence of small streams
each entering higher in the valley. The culverts join together
in the town centre and the main run varies in size as it passes
through the area, due to the many repairs carried out over a long
period of time by various land owners, often without consideration
of the effects on other properties. Surface water run-off from
most properties and developments finds its way into this system
resulting in a huge build-up of hydraulic pressure and collapse
of parts of the culverted system. In addition springs are evident
as the land slopes downwards running through farmland and small
hamlets adding to the flow where the culvert becomes a torrent
in open stream sections. The least of the worries are that bating
could assist in some areas whilst wholesale repairs and renewal
may have to be the ultimate solution in others.
3. Sewer systems: Some properties discharge
surface water into the sewers resulting in surcharge of that system
and consequent spillage onto the streets of the town and some
local farmland. Urgent inspection of which properties affect the
situation is needed but property owners are reticent to allow
dye testing and this will be a lengthy process.
4. Road drainage: The majority of existing
road drains are of the "chute" variety that allow all
debris to enter the system resulting in the blockage of drains.
Where "sump" type gullies have been installed there
is a large build up of debris and silt that is normally only cleaned
out once a year except when emergencies arise. This is due to
the lack of revenue available for such work.
5. Action taken: A Public Meeting was held
on Saturday 21 July, following which a Forum has been set up through
the Partnership and comprises representatives of the Statutory
Authorities, Parish, Town and District Councillors and Partnership
volunteers. The Forum has discussed the existing problems and
all bodies are of the opinion that a large sum of money is required
to enable proper surveys to be undertaken resulting in a well
formed plan for provision of proper drainage that will cope with
existing problems and prepare for the future threats of further
climate change. Financial help is therefore urgently needed to
avoid any further repetition of the problems so frequently experienced
in this rural area.
Coleford Area Market and Coastal Towns Initiative
Partnership
September 2007
| 
