Parish decries lasting Storm Henk floodwater 'problem' in Wraysbury

Parishes have called for more ‘prompt’ council action as some Royal Borough areas remain flooded more than three months after Storm Henk.

At a virtual Flood Liaison meeting on Monday, ward councillor for Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury Councillor Ewan Larcombe (Independent, National Flood Prevention Party) urged inspectors to take action at Wraysbury Village Green.

He said: “Wraysbury Village Green is still flooded and we're three months after the flood event. It is flooded, it is a symptom."

He said the ‘problem’ is the watercourses where blocked land drainage infrastructure prevented water from flowing away.

“It has to dissipate by transpiration or through the ground structure and it can't because there’s ever more water coming in all the time," he said.

He said he was unhappy with Wraysbury Parish Council’s suggestion of digging channels or introducing 120 tonnes of soil to raise the ground level and fill ponds.

“Well, the channels are already full of water and it is pointless digging out the channels if the water still cannot get away," he said.

“The problem is further downstream and until the report comes out and somebody gets on and does something.”

RBWM flood risk manager Ben Crampin updated councillors on the progress of a Section 19 report being developed by the council in response to the flooding from Storm Henk in January this year.

The report will detail the causes and impacts of the flooding and ask risk management authorities if they have or plan to act on these roles.

Mr Crampin said a ‘pessimistic timescale’ could see the report published in July, a month later than previously expected, due to 35 locations needing to be visited – which requires additional resources from the wider borough.

He also said that a survey had been commissioned on the Wraysbury drains following the January flooding to get a 'better understanding of the priority areas'.

“The most interesting data we've been able to use is the water level data so the benefit of having a survey done at a time where the water level is still high in the watercourse means that where we've been able to identify where there's obstructions within the worst course where water levels are significantly lower in parts than others.

"This has given us quantitative data we can use to go ahead with either potential enforcement or maintenance work moving forward."