Village drains dilemma

Concern has been raised about how the drainage system in Balderton would cope if more houses were built.

Parish councillors say the system struggles to cope with the existing number of homes.

Their concerns will be put to a meeting at which various organisations, including Severn Trent Water and Nottinghamshire County Council, will discuss drainage issues.

Balderton Parish Council chairman, Mrs Angela Jarvis, said: “I was concerned when we had problems with flooding because we then got sewage.”

She said she was worried about the consequences of building more houses in the area before a better drainage and sewerage system was in place.

“We are in trouble now, never mind when there are 2,000 more houses,” she said.

Mr Gordon Brooks told the council’s finance and general purposes committee there were long-standing problems with the drainage system.

“We don’t seem to be getting anywhere at all,” he said.

Mr Tony Roberts, the leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, who was at the meeting, said: “When everybody is responsible, nobody is responsible.

“When there was a bit of drain there and a bit of culvert here, people felt they should deal with it as their own drain or their own culvert.”

Mr Roberts said the problem was likely to remain until one organisation was responsible for the drains.

He said pressure needed to be applied to get one organisation to take responsibility.

Mr Ian Harrison, the district council’s strategic manager for risk and resilience, said that in the next six weeks he would consult agencies, including the district council, Newark Internal Drainage Board, Environment Agency, Severn Trent Water and the county highways to try to get information that might help answer the parish council questions on drainage.

The parish clerk, Mrs Cheryl Davison-Lyth, said an inspection of a culvert under London Road this week confirmed that it was blocked and a further inspection was to take place to see what was causing the blockage.

She said photographs had been taken of an open dyke between John Hunt Primary School and the Oaks nursing home that was full of debris and rubbish.