£5m cost of storm and flood repairs
Her comments came at a virtual cabinet meeting, where executives were told that an 18-month trial was being developed to target critical highways and residential hotspots. According to KCC, the trial will involve a more “proactive” and “cyclical” cleansing of gullies and ditches. Many will not be attended to until the drain systems have been overwhelmed or in response to customer complaints. sooner. During this trial we will seek to publish the records of gully maintenance and issues, keeping residents informed of our activities and providing reassurance about the readiness of the drainage system.”
More than 10,000 drain and flood enquiries, including 8,727 emergency calls, were made to KCC’s highways department between April 2019 and February 2020. Customer demand has increased by 41% over the last four years.
Simon Jones, KCC’s corporate director for highways, said: “We want to get ahead of the game.” He added: “We must make sure we have a sustainable system, not just on the highway, but our relationship with the surrounding areas so we cut out these problems at source rather than having to deal with responses.” KCC says it will continue to lobby the Department of Transport and the Secretary of State, Grant Shapps, for economic aid as the council seeks to recuperate escalating costs.
Leader Cllr Roger Gough (Con), added: “This has had a massive impact on the county over a long wet winter and is something we will have to contend with in the future.”