Less talk and more action on flooding, say councillors across Windsor and Maidenhead

Multiple councillors have expressed frustrations over how long it is taking to address flooding at key spots across the Borough.

At an RBWM Flood Liaison Group held on Tuesday, parish and Royal Borough councillors discussed problem areas in their wards, including ongoing issues in Bray, Bisham, Cookham and Wraysbury.

Representing Bisham Parish Council, Colin Lemmings raised concerns over a problematic culvert that has ‘flooded completely’ in the past.

A culvert is a tunnel or pipe that allows water to flow underneath a road or similar structure, preventing flooding.

Concrete paths either side of this culvert are reducing its capacity, making it less effective, he said.

Cllr Lemmings said it was ‘very disappointing’ that after seven months of seeking information, there had been ‘no answer at all’ to address these concerns ‘after multiple chases’.

Speaking for Bray, Louvaine Kneen, chairman of planning at the parish council, had similar concerns about her patch.

“The manhole cover at Moneyrow Green has been leaking sewage for years now,” she said. “I understand that Thames Water has some issues, but we do need some sort of timeframe for when this will be addressed.”

One of the problems appears to be communication and shared understanding between various responsible bodies, such as Thames Water or the Environment Agency, and councillors.

David Harding, Thames Water’s home counties stakeholder manager, said that to his knowledge there is no flooding problem in Cookham – causing ward councillor Mandy Brar (Lib Dem, Bisham and Cookham) to express her staunch disagreement.

Mr Harding stressed this view was based on data from flood reports.

“No utility company upgrades entire chunks of networks based on hearsay,” he said. “We require customers to report flooding when it happens, so the cause can be investigated.

“Where it looks like the reported issue is due to some underlying issue, it gets investigated, but we don’t go out and dig up towns because people say we need to.”

Cllr Mark Howard (Lib Dem, Bisham and Cookham), backed his fellow ward councillor, highlighting there are areas in Cookham that are sporadically affected by localised sewage flooding, and these ‘tend to be the same places’.

The general feeling at the meeting was there had been ‘a lot of discussion and not a lot of action’ on flooding.

Chair of the panel Cllr David Buckley (Reform, Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury), said: “We have discussed this a lot of times since I have been chair – things go on for years and years and we’re fed up with it.”

As such, the panel is putting a system in place to try to resolve problems more quickly.

Its new ‘action plan’ document details actions sought, the organisation responsible for resolving the issue and an ‘action tracker’ listing the responses that have happened so far. For example, Cookham figures are keen for updates on Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station, which was ‘put out of action by flooding in 2014’ and again in January last year.

Thames Water is being asked if it has now moved all sensitive electrical equipment above flood level, as it said it would do – or if the company can at least detail the necessary programme of work.

Meanwhile, the project to reinstate flow to the Wraysbury Drain is progressing – the council has received legal advice and is now looking to progress the diversion solution with the landowner in Hythe End.