Croydon Council flood response continues

A key location affected by last year’s flooding will get further council improvements from this weekend as the cabinet also prepares to consider its new long-term strategy for the borough.

In February 2014, hundreds of Purley and Kenley households were affected after the Caterham Bourne overflowed, flooding homes and key routes like the Brighton Road and Godstone Road.

Under an ongoing £850,000 council investment in flood defences, this Saturday contractors will start several weekends of widening and clearing a culvert in Dale Road where the Purley flooding began.

The latest Dale Road works, which follow significant council investment last year to improve the Purley Oaks emergency balancing pond and nearby gulley clearing, involve enlarging a drain and clearing a culvert of tree roots, silt and other potential blockages to ease water pressure in case of flooding.

On top of developing local action plans like in Kenley, on Monday the council’s cabinet will also consider an overarching flood management strategy to improve everything from planning policy to advice to residents.

The strategy’s recommended action plan drawn up after consultation includes:

• Developing more detailed data and maps of at-risk areas, including watercourses from the Norbury Brook to the Wandle
• Doing more to educate residents on how to prepare for future flooding
• Closer working with each organisation that tackles flooding, from the Environment Agency to neighbouring councils
• Developing a long-term plan to better protect the Kenley waterworks
• Compulsory drainage strategies for all new housing developments, not just the larger ones

Elsewhere in Kenley, following detailed analysis and community engagement that began in February council engineers are developing options to protect Welcomes Road and around the train station. Council officers will share these with local residents when the plans are ready early in the New Year.

Other work as part of the £850,000 council investment includes expanding the Purley Oaks depot emergency balancing pond last year to be as big as three Olympic swimming pools and starting a long-term project that began last year to map future Caterham Bourne flooding.

“We’re doing all we can to prepare for future flooding and limit its impact on our residents and businesses, especially those in high-risk areas.

“By tackling places affected last year like Kenley and looking at the bigger picture with this borough-wide strategy that took on board residents’ feedback, we’re getting better prepared to respond to future floods.”

Councillor Kathy Bee, cabinet member for transport and environment

To view a copy of the cabinet report and the results of related consultation, visit the council’s website. Visit the council website’s flooding pages at http://www.croydon.gov.uk/environment/flood-water/

2015-11-10T16:59:15+00:00 November 10th, 2015|Recent news|