February 2024
TALLINGTON FLOODING UPDATE. as at 16th February 2024.
Following on from the February update. The newly formed Tallington Flood response team has been on alert a number of times over the last few weeks with the continued record high levels of rainfall. The river thankfully not coming close to the record level of the 3rd January of 2.04m at 11.35pm (EA website still quoting Dec 20 at 1.76m). The Parish Council’s new 2” pump was deployed over the weekend of 10th 11th February on the dyke next to the river bank to pump water back into the river. This was primarily an opportunity for members of the team to learn how to use the equipment. It was not purchased for this purpose but running for approx 5 hours each day it did drop the dyke water level by 12 to 18” and well below the field level that when flooded is a warning indicator signalling the need to call for the Environment Agency pump to be brought to the bridge. Pumping was only stopped because the level dropped so low that the pump was dragging in small fish which we have reported to the Environment agency.
Heron’s Trust 4” Water Pump - 10 Mar 24
We are hopeful of an offer of grant funding for a larger 4 inch pump (at 1600 litres a minute) that could be deployed to pump ground level water from the dyke back into the river when the levels in the dyke are rising. Clearly this is not the long-term answer but moving a lot of water from the dyke when its rising can only be helpful. Remedial measures by any of the authorities are sadly likely to take a long time and it is clear that there will not be any quick fixes as there has to be an investigation carried out by LCC, as the lead authority responsible for flooding in the county. This is prescribed under section 19 of the Floods and Water Management Act 2010. There are 228 incidents, covering 818 properties in Lincolnshire alone following storms Babet and Henk that will not be reported on until the end of August this year at the earliest. This is on a scale not previously seen in recent times we are told.
We need therefore to be vigilant and to help ourselves where we can. To this end the parish Council will publish its Flood Plan and any changes in responsibilities in time for the March 12th Parish Council meeting.
On Thursday 8th February Parish Council representatives met with the Environmental Agencies Area Flood and Coastal Risk Manager who was accompanied by the Operations Manager who manages the field team, that undertake maintenance work and respond to incidents to discuss the January Flooding and where we felt the EA had failed us that included the EA stripping back the top layers of the bank at the bridge for more badger defensive works before Xmas (something we raised concerns about at the time) but in so doing left the bank (made up in large parts of gravel) exposed to seepage of the rising river level experienced at the time. The record amounts of rainfall over such a short period of time created if you will excuse the pun ‘the perfect storm’ in bringing together a number of weaknesses in the management of high levels of rainfall, the rising river level and the maintenance of the drainage assets. We pushed our believe that the best defence for Tallington is a pumping station at the bridge. Anglian Water representatives have also now expressed a similar view as they believe it would reduce pressure on the water table that their pumping station is expected to handle as a means of last resort and that clearly it cannot. Many residents are now sadly of the opinion that the EA have the wrong priorities when it comes to spending money. Millions of pounds on an Eel pass and Badger protection as opposed to better protection from flooding for householders.
The water table throughout the village and in the surrounding fields is still at record levels, the ground being totally saturated. This continues to cause problems with Toilets backing up on Searson Close, Main Road (after the Village Hall) to the Rail Crossing and even to some homes on St Lawrence way. Owners on the Whistle Stop Lodge Park are also having issues. Residents are advised to always report their individual issues to Anglian Water so they can be logged. The Parish Council have also been pressing AW to help with tankers but we are advised that as it is classed as storm water it is not AW policy to tank away anymore! There has also been a lot of misinformation given to residents by AW representatives ref there being a pump failure at the Searson Close pumping station. AW have assured us that there are no issues and that both of the 2 pumps, one a standby are working. We are continuing to press AW to action repairs as they seem to have abandoned residents totally. The rainfall creates the usual road surface standing water – but just more quickly than in the past due to the ground already being saturated! The standing water serves to highlight yet again the continuing LCC /Anglian water drainage failures that we are actively pursuing with them each blaming the other for the problems with surface water.
We all know where the problems are with the road surface/ sewer issues as they are clearly mapped out on the standing water maps on the Environment Agency’s website for all to see.
Richard Fenwick, LCC Head of Highways asset and local Management services has agreed to meet with us again and discuss the way forward in partnership with Anglian Water on a phase 2. Anglian water on the other hand has yet to agree what they intend to do and are researching the recent history of the issues!! TPC are at a loss to understand why the AW does not already have a grip on the historical issues! We have suggested that the Area manager for Anglian Water might like to join in the visit and continue the partnership approach we thought they had adopted back in 2021 with LCC.
Anglian Water email to the parish Council of of 12th May 2022…..
The planned work has been completed on the culvert. During this work, we were able to remove a large amount of silt and it will therefore alleviate the risk of surface water flooding.
Whilst this work will provide an improvement to the village, we were not able to remove 100% of the debris. The only way to do this would be to excavate the road, remove the top of the culvert and relay and reinstate. We are obtaining a quote for these works but it is likely to be in the region of £400k-£500k. We have spoken with LCC in detail about this and sadly it is highly unlikely that either organisation will be able to find sufficient funds to complete this work. Once we have the quote, we will be able to confirm definitively.
Overall, we and LCC were pleased with the amount of debris we were able to remove and appreciating it’s not a 100% fix, this is still good news for residents. Alongside the other work in the community, this will mitigate the risk of flooding in Tallington.
So there we have it the real issue is one of funding. It is really quite unedifying to have two major organisations continually trying to pass the problem one to the other. Tallington Parish Council had hoped that following the joint meetings and presentations with Anglian Water and LCC of 2021 and the attempted partial repairs carried out in the Spring of 2022 by Anglian water, (with a financial contribution we understood from LCC Highways), that we would be beyond this futile exercise of each authority trying to avoid responsibility. The residents deserve better! We shall continue to lobby all who might help get the action we need.
Stay safe.
Philip, Tallington Parish Council.