May 2024
TALLINGTON FLOODING & DRAINAGE UPDATE as at Thursday 16th May 2024
On Friday 19th April only days after I wrote the update for the May edition of T & S Anglian Water decided without reference to the Parish Council or LCC to remove the two large pumps in Mill Lane and outside of the Old Post office that we had been assured would stay until drainage problem solved. Supposedly because they believed as they informed LCC the blockages were cleared and they were now not needed. Also because of some complaints over damage to cars reference the large pipes partially buried in the road on Mill Lane. More likely the weekly cost of circa £6k. Mill Lane was later cleaned and the road repaired in parts.
Anglian Water‘s Area manager Katie Glynn eventually contacted me and apologised for not responding to my messages and calls but she had been on holiday. The message of Friday the 19th April via LCC stating that Anglian Water believed the blockages had all been cleared was as we suspected incorrect! Apparently, this misinformation emanated from Matt Moore, AW Flood Partnership Manager; he who was unaware of any toilet blockages in Tallington when questioned at the LCC flood resilience meeting back on the 19th February! Perhaps he believes the NR press office who continue to advise the media that they successfully completed the works at the crossing on the 16th March?
Katie as the Anglian Water officer in charge of the Tallington works confirmed that the blockages under the rail crossing have NOT been fully cleared yet. The latest update is that the further unannounced work of Saturday night 4th May by NR and AW on the culvert under the rail crossing had to be abandoned as low pressures jetting was not clearing the silt and it is, she tells me still 80% blocked and that they also found root ingress into the old culvert wall making it unstable!
There is potentially up to 20-30 metres under and toward the village still seriously blocked. There has been no further surface water drain clearance work in village as yet. AW need to discuss with LCC what next including the internal Drainage board work to the dykes to the east of the village toward West Deeping. Katie clearly understands the need to sort out and clear the surface water culvert from the Old post office chamber collapse to the rail crossing. Basically, this is the work that was never completed in March 2022 and that has no doubt deteriorated further since. Katie accepted that should a solution and/or the drains not be cleared over the summer months that the pumps could be reinstated.
The 15th and 16th May saw some heavy rain and this resulted in rising water in Mill Lane and at the Manor House near the crossing. Calls to LCC’s Richard Fenwick resulted in an officer being despatched to view and a promise of Tankers to lower the water levels. Anglian Water’s Matt Moore is now telling LCC that it’s not the blockage that is the issue – but the rising water table! We are all aware of that but unfortunately the water is trapped in the village because of the historic village and rail crossing blockages that NR and AW are dragging their heels on fixing. Katie informed me on 16th May that they are chasing NR but that at present there is still no timetable for any more works at crossing or in the village.
Mill Lane 16 May 24
The Parish Council have received assurances from LCC that they will continue to support the village in ensuring an acceptable long-term solution is found.
Alicia Kearns, MP for Melton and Rutland and the parliamentary candidate for Rutland and Stamford arranged for the Flooding minister Robbie Moore MP to visit Tallington on Thursday 9th May to hear firsthand from the Parish Council, farmers and members of the Tallington Flood response team about the flooding of 3rd, 4th January and 22nd February. The Environment Agency were also in attendance. He promised to write to the CEO of Anglian Water and Network Rail to get them to engage meaningfully. The EA are to convene a multi-agency meeting. In light of the rising water of the 16th May I have asked Gareth Davies MP and Alicia Kearns MP to chase this up with the Minister.
AW have already set up a specific group to plan the Tallington and surrounding catchment area works.
On the 8th May I joined a multi-agency online ‘Teams’ meeting organised by AW. Represented were the Environment agency, LCC highways Richard Fenwick, LCC Flood and water manager Mathew Harrison, an AW emergency planner, an AW Hydrologist. Deepings internal drainage board Nick Morris and others. Also invited were representatives from West Deeping, Scopwick and Heighington parishes, although few of them seemed to be represented. It was called by Katie Glynn of Anglian water primarily to learn lessons from the events of the last few months ref the ground water challenges as she put it? I was able to raise the issue of poor communications, and the poor response of the AW help line with their communications manager. These meetings will be monthly from now on to coordinate the actions required and how better to handle such events in the future, AW stating and I quote – “that only a true catchment-based multi-agency partnership approach will resolve these challenges, and bring some closure and resolution to the communities they all serve. AW would like to work collaboratively and help identify and co-fund solutions which bring about the long-term resolution of these challenges.
It is hoped that this group will work through the existing challenges we are facing, and produce a long-term strategy to bring a resolution to the issues faced by these communities. We will need to continue to meet once the current incident has closed, as we know that these communities are likely to be affected again in the future, and AW would like to explore how this group could merge or align with other groups under the Lincolnshire flood Management Group.”
The Environment Agency removed the large pump from the river bridge on Monday 22nd April. If we need it again urgently, we now have better line of communication than in January, not reliant on one contact or the National Emergency helpline.
We also now have our own large ‘Herons Trust’ 1600 litres a minute pump that lives close to the bridge that we can deploy quickly if and when needed.
Up to date information is posted on the Parish Council’s website. I will continue to provide an update summary each month, correct as at the middle of the month preceding publication of T&S. If you would like to join the Parish Council bcc email list and or the Community WhatsApp group please let me know.
Stay Safe.
Philip.
Tallington Parish Council
16th May 2024.