A RESIDENT of the upper Dale has complained to Durham County Council regarding the flooding in the village of Ireshopeburn.
Philip Newbold, one of the Trustees of the Weardale Museum, who lives in West Blackdene, was incensed at yet another flooding incident that closed the road. Rainfall had been incessant for many hours during the last week, which resulted in flooding around the county but none was as severe as in the upper Dale.
Mr Newbold explained that there has been a very long history of flooding on the section of the A689 since the road was widened around the High House Chapel and Weardale Museum. The design of the camber of the road surface and the provision of an inadequate number of road gullies has repeatedly led to ingress of ground water into the foundations of the Chapel causing major structural damage to the fabric of the building which has cost tens of thousands of pounds to rectify. A project is currently in progress to restore the Chapel and remodel the Museum and the Chapel to form a new Heritage Centre.
He said, “I have lived in West Blackdene for 15 years and every time it rains heavily, the A689 becomes impassable due to flooding. The number and spacing of road gullies remains completely inadequate and nowhere near the Council’s own County standards.
“Thanks to a complete lack of maintenance, the road gullies become blocked with leaves every Autumn so the rainwater simply runs over them and collects at the lowest point of the road between Ireshopeburn and St John’s Chapel. The regular flooding is inevitable.”
Villagers believe that a programme of regular gully cleaning and drain unblocking in conjunction with additional road gullies along the north kerb line is necessary in compliance with County Highways standards.
“This work is long overdue and still threatens to discharge excess rainwater into the foundations of the Chapel,” added Mr Newbold. “It is time to require action be taken to address this long-term problem.”
It isn’t the first time that this problem has been reported to the county council with residents as well as the Trustees of the Weardale Museum becoming increasingly frustrated.
“ In response to the Trustees extensive complaints, we received a written assurance from Highways that gully cleaning would be carried out twice a year. This clearly does not happen,” commented Mr Newbold.
The latest flooding incident prevented the buses from travelling further up Dale from St John’s Chapel as well as many motor vehicles too, due to the depth of the water, which all but closed the road both ways.
The Weardale Gazette contacted Durham County Council for a comment on the matter and received this reply from Paul Watson, highways services manager at Durham County Council.
He said: “County Durham experienced an exceptional period of rainfall last week, with more than 50mm of rain falling in a short time, leading to significant surface water issues. Several roads across the county were affected by the storms.
“Our highways teams worked tirelessly to respond to incidents as they arose, deploying resources to clear drains, culverts and ditches to maintain public safety.
“We are aware of the issues faced by the Weardale Museum and have worked to ensure that the drainage in the road outside of the building is operating efficiently without any blockages.”
Mr Newboldthinks differently.
