Sorry for this somewhat tardy posting! You may remember the Doris storm of 23rd February, which now seems so long ago. The practical effects in Hughenden Valley were not very great. However, we did see a fairly intense downpour lasting perhaps an hour which would normally have resulted in Valley Road outside the village hall becoming swamped. On this occasion it didn’t which must be testament to the fact that Transport for Bucks maintenance is having a positive effect, so well done them.

In addition, Martin Hall took a short video during the same downpour which showed how well the drains were coping with the water coming down Combe Lane – you can see this video at this location: https://youtu.be/lrOzcpWlZ0I. The drains in question are sited on the mini roundabout where Coombe Lane meets Valley Road. Again, this can only be down to timely work by TFB.

We are glad to report that TFB have been along Valley Road this week clearing the open ditch between the village hall and the pumping station.

Anyone wanting to report a problem to Transport for Bucks now has to call Transport for Bucks on 01296 382416 (9am – 5.30pm) or 01296 486630 (for out of hours emergency).

If wanting to email an issue, you can no longer use the TFB@BUCKSCC.GOV.UK email address. Instead, use the TFB contact form which is shown on the Advice page on this web site. Bear in mind that this form rather poorly only allows 80 characters to describe a problem plus only allows a single photo to be uploaded!

I think we will all remember the night of Tuesday 18th July for it’s belter of a stormy night including massive thunderstorms and heavy downpours. As far as we are concerned in the Valley, the really intense downpour seemed to last under an hour but it resulted in Valley Road becoming awash near the Village Hall. This was a huge danger to passing cars hitting a flooded road at speed.

During the course of this year, the Council have fulfilled their promises to clear drains and ditches; they have assured us that the drainage would cope with a heavy downpour and that Valley Road and houses would not flood. However, the night’s storm resulted in what most of us residents had suspected – that a cloudburst would overwhelm the drains and flood the road and send water cascading down from the road, along pavements and into residents properties along Valley Road near the Village Hall.

Fortunately, the worst damage inflicted seems to have been the results of road water flooding garages, and we are not aware of any getting into houses. One or two of us will have flagged an issue with Transport for Bucks, but it seems unlikely that much will happen.

Perhaps a new action plan is needed before a prolonged storm floods houses.

A few grainy photos below don’t really get across the extent of the problem.

The blocked drain in Valley Road opposite Herrisson House is no more! Well, we mean that it shouldn’t be blocked any longer as Transport for Bucks visited on 11th January and believe that they have finally resolved the issue. The problem had presented itself as a blocked road drain on the west side of Valley Road opposite the village hall. This drain was meant to empty itself via a pipe running across the road and into a pipe in the enclosed ditch on the village hall side of the road. CCTV work carried out in 2016 suggested a collapsed pipe.

After the recent work, TFB have stated that the excavation showed that there was no pipe whatsoever linking the pipe from the drain into the ditch and that the pipe from the road drain fell 4-5 metres short of the ditch. This explains why the original jetting operation failed. TFB have now linked the road drain outlet pipe to the ditch pipes, so the whole thing should run freely.

Transport for Bucks have been spotted in Hughenden Valley again, this time sucking out the blocked road drains on the corner of Valley Road and Coombe Lane outside the village hall. We understand that in fact all of Coombe Lane has now been done as part of the current round of work and that the engineers will return next week to clean out the Valley Road drains.    

We have been aware of the state of the open ditched in Valley Road for several years, but the photos below surely demand that TFB take action to get these cleared out?

On the 17th January the DIG met with Thames Water consultants eight2O and Bucks CC for us to receive an update on the TW Drainage Strategy for Little Marlow and Hughenden Valley. The strategy document initially issued last year deals with responses to sewer flooding, surface water flooding and groundwater flooding to properties.

The meeting heard that work continues to be done on the development and refinement of the plan. This includes:- Survey and data collection from depth monitors, groundwater and river level data to enable better understanding of trigger levels when external water can enter the sewer network.- Sewer Flooding Questionnaires have been collected from properties affected by flooding in the valley and the data entered to the TW Sewer Flooding History Database.- CCTV footage of the sewers has been reviewed and repair work actions passed to TW Ops staff.- Further development work on the hydrological modelling of the valley has taken place.

Future actions include further surveying, monitoring and modelling, which will lead to continued improvement to the strategy.

TW and Bucks CC will arrange a further meeting for May to discuss modelling, where HVDIG has had some concerns. Bucks CC will ask the Atkins consultants involved in the DEFRA project to attend this meeting. 

Following the 22nd November meeting with Bucks CC on the Defra project, a further meeting has been organised for 17th January at 7.00pm in the small village hall.

The purpose of this meeting is to put questions to Gareth Evans and Chris Matthias relating to the  hydrological modelling that forms part of the Defra project proposal.

We are informed that the planned drainage works in Valley Road have been delayed owing to an embargo on work leading up to the Christmas holiday period. This means no works are allowed on major routes or areas around shopping centres from 28th November 2016 through until the 9th January 2017.  
We presently await further advice on when the work will be scheduled for.