Drainage re-vamp to alleviate flood fears

Published on 14th September 2006 in News

Local MP Ian Cawsey chaired a meeting in Goole on Friday to discuss recent flooding in the town and the possible solutions for Millennium Way and other streets in the vicinity.

As well as Mr Cawsey and local councillor Malcolm Boatman, there were representatives from Yorkshire Water, the Headrow Housing Association and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Following the meeting it was agreed that Yorkshire Water will be carrying out work on the drainage system in the area which, it is hoped, will be completed within four weeks.

Further investigations have discovered that the "pressure point" is where the drainage from the area runs along Delamere Walk and joins the main sewer on Hook Road. Water has been backing up from this point and flooding back in Millennium Way and other streets.

Yorkshire Water to redirect waterflow

Yorkshire Water will be re-engineering this junction so that both the level is changed and the current 90 degree 'turn' is replaced with a curved section to improve the flow. They will also be taking their own sewer out of the private Headrow system and directing water into a different part of their system. They are hopeful that by improving the flow and by reducing the volume of waste water going towards Hook Road that the problems of the last few years will be alleviated.

One of the other problems in Millennium Way is the basic design of the area, with Yorkshire Water pointing out that the houses are around 1.5 metres (more than four feet) lower than the road. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council has agreed to investigate possible changes to the road to deal with this.

Finally, Yorkshire Water is to survey the entire drainage system to create their own IT model of the area so that they can test various scenarios to ensure the system is as effective as may be.

Commenting after the meeting Ian Cawsey said: "I would like to thank all who attended for quickly responding to my request for a meeting and for their commitment to work together to alleviate this problem.

"Clearly, local residents have been experiencing a lot of upset and distress, with several flooding incidents, and something needs to be done.

"This re-engineering of the system will cost Yorkshire Water about £40,000 to complete and if it does the job, as they hope it will, then that will be money well spent.

"Yorkshire Water said they will be increasing the frequency with which they clean out the gullies in the area. But they said their inspection had shown a high level of rubbish being thrown into the system and they do ask that we all remain vigilant to this and discourage this practice as they believe this was a contributory factor to the recent problems.

"I hope this will all lead to a better system for the local residents and will be in place as quickly as possible".