Villagers call for action on drains

RESIDENTS in Backwell are calling for the drains in Farleigh Road to be improved to prevent dirty water from flooding their gardens.

North Somerset Council updated the drains after the floods in January 2008 when manholes in the road overflowed, spewing raw sewage onto people’s land and flooding Backwell Leisure Centre.

Firefighters were called out to pump water from homes and businesses and residents invested in sand bags to protect their properties.

The improvements put a stop to the flooding for a while, but due to the recent heavy downpours villagers have been suffering from flooding again.

Chairman of Backwell Parish Council, Bob Taylor said: “All the water comes off the hill, floods the drains and backs up on Farleigh Road. The water is full of grit and dirt from the quarry so it’s all brown and muddy and it causes a hell of a mess.

“Over the years North Somerset Council has cut back on cleaning up the drains and it all congregates on Farleigh Road. It used to flood the houses on the same side as the swimming pool.

“The last time it was that bad was about a year ago. It was a regular occurrence.

“The council has made the drains bigger and they are much clearer but we had flooding again last week. It wasn’t as bad but everyone thought the problem had been solved.”

Backwell district councillor Karen Barclay has raised the matter with North Somerset Council and the authority has agreed to empty the gullies and investigate what is causing the problem.

A council spokesman said: “We did upgrade the drainage systems. We’ve arranged for the gullies to be emptied over the next couple of weeks following the flooding last week.

“With regards to other concerns we would ask Backwell Parish Council to raise any issues with us so we can look into it.”