RESPONSE TO LATEST FLOODING ON OTLEY TO POOL ROAD [Pool Road badly flooded in four places between Pool and just past Blue Barn. Dangerous in the dark!] Councillor Barry Anderson contacted both Highways and the Emergency Planning Section for an explanation. Set out below are the two updates received: PEACE & EMERGENCY PLANNING UNIT Sorry that you have had no reply. From an emergency planning perspective we issued information to the severe weather group (internal) that indicated we were to experience both rainfall and high winds, though the focus was around the Sunday when formal met office warnings were in place for the storm We issued a Leeds Alert email on the Friday which also included all 8 people who have signed up to the Wharfe Valley Alert (disappointingly low take up). We also issued out public messages via Twitter. The rainfall you reference had no warning from the Met office and would be classed as normal in their eyes. Tree Leaves undoubtedly will have exacerbated pooling of water by blocking some grids and the only reports we were made aware of other than by your email were focused on predominantly Guiseley. Ive no other information around any flooding or disruption to your area and I dont believe flood risk management or highways will have as we collated where the issues were following the weekend and it wasnt referenced. If any signage was deployed Highways can respond to this. If you know otherwise please pass on any specific information you have including any location. Were only as good as the info we receive and the contact centre maintained a service over the entire period. In relation to Wharfe valley alert and the low take up - it seems that those interested in the first place were from a very small group and the service we are aiming to provide is for far more people. I think the only option we have here is a letter drop to all businesses. It wont remove flooding from occurring of course which is something discussed at previous area committees together with FRM and Highways. HIGHWAYS OPERATIONS MANAGER Cllr Anderson, My apologies for the delay in responding. There isn’t anything wrong with the Highway drainage on Pool Road, it is fully functional and my teams visit regularly to ensure that there is no significant build-up of debris over the grates. I am unaware of any flooded areas, but I haven’t visited during and significant down pours. I/we have no reports of any notable flooding other than [The] concerns [from Pool E-news] and therefore I have not arranged for any advanced warning signage of the “floods” I will keep monitoring the location and particularly over the next few weeks whilst the leaf coverage of the grates still cause concern to make sure the grates are cleared on a regular basis. The leaf fall does cause a concern at this time of year, but the concerns on Pool Road are no different to many areas in the leafy North of the City, but once the top of the grates have been cleansed the drainage works fine. COUNCILLOR BARRY ANDERSON REQUESTS If you come across any instances again if you can let me know so that I can bring them to the attention of both parties.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:38:23 +0000
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