Consultation over Telford flood relief scheme 'misleading'
Consultation over plans for a flood relief scheme in Telford has been criticised as being “misleading” after interim designs were put on display.
Heavy rainfall regularly results in brown-coloured water flowing down Wellington Road in Donnington and plans are being made to lay new pipes to alleviate the flooding.
But a councillor representing the area said he was left disappointed after Severn Trent Water staff turned up at the drop-in event at The Silver Threads Hall with drawings dated April 2017 despite the firm announcing in November that a new scheme was required.
The proposed project will involve laying bigger sewer pipes to divert the flood water from the public network.
The regular flooding is associated with mine water flows in the area.
Councillor Jim Leavery, of Donnington and Muxton Parish Council, said: “These drawings are eight months old and have not moved the plans forward. I am not very pleased about it.
“I think the community is being patronised by Severn Trent Water.
“The commencement of the work is virtually going to be on a wing and a prayer.
“These designs are giving people the impression that this is the right route, when in fact it is wrong. I am very disappointed.
“These drawings tell me that nothing of any substance has been done to the drawings since last April, although the contractor’s representative said that there had been some amendments, but there were no notes to indicate that any changes had been made.
“There is a bottleneck in the sewer network.
“The water flows downhill from Donnington to Wellington Road so even if bigger pipes are laid the problem will still be there. They need to discharge some of the water near the A518 at Horton Wood to deal with the flooding. As things stand we can’t assess when the work is going to happen because the company doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing yet.”
“It is misleading for the residents to be shown old drawings because some of the features will not be there when the work is eventually carried out.”
Heather and Russell Wilkes, both 70, of Millwood Close, Donnington, were among the residents to attend. Mrs Wilkes, a retired sales worker, said: “The flooding has been a problem for years and years.
“The work will cause a lot of disruption and it seems they are looking to run the new system along Wrekin Drive which is close to us. Wrekin Drive and Farm Lane run parallel to each other so if they use that area, there may be less traffic disruption.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “The drop-in session provided a great opportunity for us to speak to a number of local people and have some constructive conversations about the flooding issue and the impact it has.
“We’re continuing to work closely with Telford & Wrekin Council to work out the best way to carry out the work and solve all of the flooding issues– we’re hoping to do this by making use of the previous plans we had but increasing the size of the pipes to increase the capacity of the sewers and safely divert the waste water away.
"We’re hoping to be able to finalise these plans soon and begin work later this year.”
