News Resident complains over poor drainage
A Crowle resident this week slammed the standard of drainage provided by the Environment Agency as he spoke out about the current state of the area's main water course.
Robin Barker has claimed that North Soak Drain, the main course taking water from Thorne to Crowle, is "overgrown and badly maintained" and believes that this lead to farmland in the area being flooded.
"Part of everyone's council tax payment is to provide funds for the Environment Agency to provide adequate drainage but as recent events have shown, the drainage is not up to the required standard," said Robin.
"This is because of government policy to reduce expenditure on drain maintenance for so-called wildlife conservation benefits.
"Following the recent floods, where Crowle and the surrounding agricultural land were severely threatened and in some cases flooded, the pumps at Medge Hall and Godnow were switched off on instruction from the Environment Agency because of the overgrown and badly maintained North Soak Drain's lack of capacity.
"The drains are in a worse state now than they have been in the last 50 years. Government talk of improving flood defences upstream is absolute madness when water courses downstream are not maintained adequately.
"It is up to the general public and electorate to express their concerns and dissatisfaction to their MPs and councillors on these matters, with a view to remedying this inadequate state of affairs. It is, once again, the public's money that is being wasted and our voices must be heard before there is more unnecessary distress to public and wildlife."
But a spokesperson for North Lincolnshire Council told the Goole Times that council tax bills do not contain a levy for the Environment Agency.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency added that local levy programmes, in which money is raised by way of a levy on the county councils and unitary authorities, are sometimes used to support flood risk management projects but maintenance of drains and other water courses are often financed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The spokesperson said: "Maintenance of local drains and ditches falls to many different organisations but the primary responsibility for main water courses rests with the landowner.
"The Environment Agency has the power to carry out maintenance on water courses which have been defined as 'main river' if it minimises the risk of flooding to properties but there is no legal obligation upon us to do so.
"The recent flooding was due solely to the quantity of rainfall, which caused the amount of water in north soak drains to exceed what it was designed to take.
"Wildlife does not dictate the standard of our maintenance work, but we are sensitive to the needs of wildlife in issuing of maintenance work.
"For example, we carry out jobs outside the nesting season to avoid disturbing nesting birds."
Published on 19th July 2007 in News.
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