Team effort likely to end flooding threat in Benfleet (From Echo)

Team effort likely to end flooding threat in Benfleet

8:00am Friday 17th August 2012 in News By Lauren Hockney

DRAINAGE problems which flooded homes in Benfleet could be dealt with by joint action by all the parties involved.

Andy Copley, 41, his pregnant wife, Hannah, and their 18-month-old daughter, Isabella, have still not been able to move back into their house in Manor Road.

The ground floor was flooded and everything on it was ruined last month, after a torrential rainstorm, which also affected other homes in Manor Road and nearby The Sorrells.

Now it seems council and Environment Agency officials may have found a way to prevent future flooding.

Essex County Council, Castle Point Council, the Environment Agency and businesses on the nearby Manor Trading Estate met for the first time yesterday to discuss the problem.

The news received a guarded welcome from Mr Copley. He said: “Thankfully, we have got hold of the flood partnerships manager, who has said she will do everything she can for us.

“Every time it rains either me or another resident goes over to the trading estate because we’re so nervous it will happen again.

“It was a positive meeting. I feel we have people on our side now. I just hope with what was said, things will be put in place.”

Borough and county councillor Ray Howard , who was also at the meeting, urged businesses in the area to make sure their drains were kept clear.

He said: “I will be fighting for Mr Copley. There is light at the end of the tunnel to resolve this issue.

“We will be writing to the 83 businesses on the estate and to Ray Dove, who owns the roads on the estate, to remind them they have a duty to make sure the drains are fully operational.

“We can’t have people suffering like that again. It’s totally unacceptable.”

Mr Dove declined to comment, but an Essex County Council spokesman said things were now in motion.

He added: “A private landowner has agreed to undertake maintenance work within the next month. The Environment Agency has also indicated a CCTV survey of the classified main river running through the estate is scheduled for October 2012. “This will identify any further issues within the drainage system which will then be dealt with appropriately.”

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