Work is being stepped up to clear gullies across parts of Cheshire East that were hit by flooding this summer, writes Stephen Topping.
Paul Traynor, head of highways at Cheshire East Council, told councillors that two more gully clearing machines are being used in the borough in an attempt to clear as many grids as possible by the end of the year.
It means there are now three machines in use in the north of the borough – including parts which were hit by flooding on July 31, such as Poynton, Bollington and Wilmslow – while one is being kept in the south.
Rural roads in particular have been hit hard where leaves and other natural debris gathers and clogs up gullies, preventing rain water from draining away.
Cllr David Jefferay, Residents of Wilmslow member for Wilmslow East, told the environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee that blocked gullies were a major concern in his ward.
“I got a letter this morning from one resident about flooding on Macclesfield Road in Wilmslow because of blocked gullies,” he said.
“I understand that there is a three-year rotation for emptying gullies – but that road, I know for a fact, I’ve got the schedule and that was supposed to be done a couple of months ago.
“On my own road, there are gullies that are blocked at the top with plants growing, and that’s certainly not been done for three years.
“So is there any way that we can bump up this gully emptying up the schedule, because it’s contributing heavily to our flooding in Wilmslow.”
CEC says that that 150mm of rain fell over five days during this summer’s flooding, with the incident estimated as a ‘one in 200-year’ event.
Responding to Cllr Jefferay, Mr Traynor said: “There are large areas of the north east of the borough now that were particularly hit during the floods, and it’s accepted now that all those gullies there are pretty much full.
“We’ve now got a programme that we will run for the rest of this year.
“We’ve brought in two additional gully cleansing machines and they are going all out every day now for the rest of the year.
“We have just completed Poynton – or we will have by the end of this week – and we are working then on a risk-assessed basis to each of those communities.
“We have initiated quite a response – we’ve brought in twice the number of resource we would ordinarily have in our annual programmes.”
To report a blocked gully visit cheshireeasthighways.org/report-it-general.aspx
In addition road sweepers are not getting rid of buildups of grit on many roads. It is not rocket science and to reduce maintenance overall is just plain stupid.
I have said for years that gullies weren’t being cleaned , in fact I did ask if they owned one or was it camouflaged?! Suddenly now they are going to start! They are pathetic. Nah , not that good.