Browse Sections

• Education
• James Chapman-Kelly
• Neil Roland
• Mancunian candidate
• Special reports

Gardens are flooded again

Susannah Wright
17/ 1/2008

RESIDENTS have made a desperate plea to the council to take action to stop their homes being flooded.

Neighbours on Brooklawn Drive in Didsbury, say gardens and garages have already become saturated with water running from the park.

With more heavy rain forecast over the next few days, they believe unless something is done, around ten homes on the street, and on neighbouring Westholme Road, could be under threat from rising waters.

Pensioner Murial Egan whose garden is covered in water said: "I’m worried that all this water will come through my back door into my house.

"The floods keep happening and it seems the council don’t know what to do with water coming off the park."

Mrs Egan, 80, who has lived in the property since it was built in 1932, added: "There needs to be more drainage in the park so the water runs away when we get downpours like this."

Alison Firth, who lives next to Mrs Egan said: "These floods happen every time we have more than just a few showers and we can’t keep going on like this.

"When we had really bad rain last summer we had to have sandbags covering our back doors and it’s just getting ridiculous.

"Our garages have been flooded so many times and it means the insurance keeps going up and up."

Ms Firth, a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Withington ward, says she has made repeated pleas for the council to create a channel and more drains in Fog Lane Park to allow floodwater to run off.

She also thinks the council’s parks department should clear leaves and debris from existing drains more regularly.

She said: "We need something to be done.

"It’s not fair, particularly for elderly or immobile residents who may not be able to lug sandbags into place or move their belongings out of the way easily. And as well as insurance premiums continually increasing, what about any personal items - once they’re ruined they can’t easily be replaced."

The calls by the residents of Brooklawn Drive come as further weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office. A spokesman said that more rain is forecast over the coming days and that in situations where the ground is already saturated, such as Fog Lane Park, any further downpours are likely to lead to water staying above ground, causing further flooding.

Councillor Mike Kane, executive member for arts and leisure, which oversees the parks, said: "We have every sympathy with the residents living near the park and our staff have been out to pump away the water from the gardens. For a more long-term solution, we are seeking to put in some more robust drainage to prevent flooding in the future."