Cancelled Floods Meeting

I am sure that many of you were disappointed and not a little irritated that the planned January 14^th Floods Meeting was cancelled at very short notice. This was because Cllr Jilly Jordan herself was called away on urgent business and we felt we had no option other than to cancel the meeting. However, we have been hard at work since then and I think this update can provide some optimism for the future.

Our initial thoughts had been to coordinate a new date soon, perhaps in the first half of February. However, since then, David Carroll our local Bucks Cllr, has been successful in arranging an on-site meeting for the DIG with Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport who has responsibility for highways drainage. This meet-up happened earlier this week.

This was a very constructive meeting and we learnt from Steve about a program of work initiated by Highways along Warrendene Rd and Bryants.

Program of Work in Warrendene & Bryants

This work will include:

• Cutting back of grass & undergrowth along the edge of the Warrendene ditch. Many of you will have seen this work has already started.
• From 23^rd February work will start using heavy machinery to clear out the ditch along its length. Apparently, this has not been done for 8 years so very timely.
• Road drains will be cleared through to the ditch. At a later point (and subject to capital budget) the road drains will be changed over to larger models.
• The ditch on Hampden Rd (up above the Warrendene crossroads) will be cleared out.
• The section of the Bryants Bottom Rd between Warrendene and Bryants Bottom that is prone to flooding will be dealt with. This will involve clearance of undergrowth at the roadside and the creation of a runoff area.

Natural Flood Management

I have also been able to obtain an update from Andrew Morsley about the Natural Flood Management project. The significance of this is that he expects his field work, analysis and report production work to be completed soon. His intention is to hold a meeting with interested residents at the Hughenden Valley Village Hall very likely in March, which the HVRA DIG will coordinate for him. I am hopeful this meeting will provide us with some answers as to how the flood water from the Hampden area can be alleviated.

The nett result of this progress of events is that we are decided that it will not be beneficial at this stage to organise an early follow-up to the Floods Meeting. We will instead concentrate on a March meeting and we will also invite Jilly Jordan to talk at that meeting. Meanwhile I hope that this update provides some welcome relief regarding the flooding problems experienced as it shows our concerns are being noticed and acted upon. Our thanks to all the residents who have shown interest in this situation and who frequently monitor, report problems to the council and even get their hands dirty doing routine maintenance jobs such as clearing drain tops and blocked grids.

The Stream is Up

Those living in the southern part of Hughenden Valley, typically near the pumping station, will be aware that the stream is rising and starting to run in the watercourses/ditches in our back gardens. As you know, the rising of the stream works its way backwards though the village up to Warrendene. So, if it’s not running with you presently, it likely will soon.

This is a good time for all residents who have the stream run through their garden, to check and clear the watercourse of rubbish, leaves and other detritus. It is your responsibility to ensure that the watercourse is kept clear under the laws of Riparian Responsibilities.

The stream running at this stage of the winter is often a sign that groundwater will be getting into the sewage network and perhaps causing issues with sewage spillages. Thames Water have clearly been visiting the area, doing CCTV surveys and clearing some blockages here and there. We can only hope that the network copes this year, as we don’t really want to see the installation of pumping equipment like happened last year.

Paul Woodford, DIG