‘Sort out this road flooding problem once and for all’
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE County Council will investigate a Hucknall flooding hotspot after nearly 1,800 people signed a petition demanding action.
Watnall Road, through the Westville area of the town, floods regularly and is often closed after periods of heavy rain.
Now, Ashfield Independent councillors Dave Shaw and Lee Waters, who organised the petition, have handed it over to County Council chairman John Ogles. Council bosses will now have until May 16, the councillors said, to “come up with an action plan” for a resolution to the issue, which causes traffic “chaos” in Hucknall when the road is closed.
Councillor Shaw said: “This road is continually flooding and is a danger to life. Anytime there is even a small amount of rain, it floods and is often closed, causing chaos across the town. We have continually raised this with county council bosses as an urgent issue. Our pleas have fallen on deaf ears so far. We are calling on the council to sort out the flooding problems out once and for all.”
The petition, via Change.org, was started on December 9 and was handed over at a recent full council meeting of the county council, which is responsible for the road. It received more than 1,000 signatures in its first week and since, it has racked up a total of 1,788.
It lists seven demands of the Conservative-run Nottinghamshire County Council. They are:
■ An immediate inspection of every gully on Watnall Road.
■ Any gully identified to be a problem to be fixed in consultation with Severn Trent water.
■ All potholes on the road to be fixed as a priority.
■ Flood mitigation schemes to be investigated in consultation with the Environment Agency.
■ Installation of lighting columns on Long Lane to improve visibility on approach to the blind bends.
■ Flashing warning signage if the road does become flooded again.
■ Installation of lighting columns on Long Lane to improve visibility on approach to the blind bends.
Long Lane, which leads to Watnall from Watnall Road, is also affected by the flooding. Both roads were closed during Storm Babet and in total, ten times between October and December.
Councillor Lee Waters told the council meeting: “This was the biggest petition handed in for many years at County Hall. It just goes to show the strength of feeling in Hucknall at the constant disruption caused by the diabolical conditions on the worst road in Nottinghamshire. Hucknall has spoken loud and clear and it is now up to the County Council to meet Hucknall’s seven demands.”
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “We’re thankful for the delivery of the petition. This will now be passed to the cabinet member so the issues raised can be further investigated.”