Although I'm focused on local issues every day I had an exceptionally busy day on Tuesday dealing with residents' reports of flooding and drainage issues in several locations in and around the villages in the Blackhall, Hesleden and Castle Eden area. To put things into perspective however there have also been many quite serious cases of flooding across the county and the whole country recently.
It goes without saying that the increase in reports of flooding have been caused in recent weeks and months by heavy and unusually persistent rainfall and excess run-off from already saturated fields surrounding our built-up areas. These type of reports accounted for more than half a dozen separate incidents along the B1281 alone - and anyone travelling this stretch of road from Blackhall Colliery to Castle Eden recently will have noticed running water and pooling caused by outflows of water from fields at several locations.
Many of the reported issues in our residential areas have also been caused by heavy rainfall over an extended period of time, and in some cases the drains and gullies simply haven't been able to cope with the volume of water. In most instances these incidents tend to correct themselves when the rainfall subsides. However I have asked the council and/or Northumbrian Water to investigate persistent drainage issues specifically at a number of locations, including at the Scheme Houses in Blackhall Colliery and Station Road in Hesleden amongst others.
Although I reported several incidents of excess waterflows outside the villages earlier this week the most frequently reported ones related to long-term incidents of water running down the B1281 adjacent to the new housing estate in Blackhall Colliery, and water flowing into the highway further along the B1281 approaching The Village between Hesleden and Castle Eden.
In these individual instances the landowners have been contacted with a request they do whatever they can to limit the overflow of excess water from their fields.
In the particular case of the new Gleeson housing development on the B1281 at Blackhall Colliery the developers were contacted recently with a request they do whatever they can to address residents' concerns about flooding outside some of the properties on the estate (the roads here are not adopted by the local authority, so in these cases maintenance responsibility falls to the landowner/developer).
In addition I've asked for an update on the developer's planned works to restrict water flow onto the B1281 and address public concerns about the roundabout at the entrance to the estate. Some readers may remember that in correspondence earlier this year I was advised that the developer is awaiting the appointment of contractors and delivery of materials with works expected in April or May. Background details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2024/02/update-on-highways-improvements-at.html
I'll update on progress with these incidents when I have more information from the authorities, but in the meantime if you have any issues you would like me to know about please get in touch at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk
