Sefton could be hit by UK's worst floods, councillors warn

Mar 25 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

SEFTON could be facing washout floods similar to those seen in Gloucestershire last summer, councillors have warned.

Without investment in drainage and maintenance, homeowners and the authorities could have to pay huge costs if flooding were to happen.

In a report presented to councillors, Sefton’s officers listed 119 locations from Southport to Bootle that have suffered from flooding.

Assessing three years of records, the list includes only areas that flood regularly or where, when flooding occurs, a large number of houses is affected.

A total of 74 of the locations suffer from having public sewers which cannot cope with the waste.

This has caused raw sewage to seep up road side drains and into gardens.

The report prompted senior councillors to write to water company United Utilities, local MPs and the Environment Agency urging action before it is too late.

In the report, Alan Moore, the council’s suspended deputy chief executive and strategic director for regeneration and environmental services, said a lack of manpower and budget restraints had meant the council had been unable to fix problems at the sites.

There is also confusion over which body has responsibility for many of the watercourses.

Sefton’s regeneration and environmental services scrutiny and review committee brought the issue to cabinet last week.

When asked if the borough risked an inundation the likes of which Tewkesbury saw last summer, committee chairman Cllr Alf Doran told the Daily Post: “Unless we start now, we could end up with that situation, particularly if the rains continue with global warming.”

“I don’t want to see areas of the borough under water.”

Cllr Doran has called for a detailed investigation into the issue to establish what needs to be done and whose responsibility it is to do it.

He will now set up a working group that will call on agencies and officers to asses the problem.

He expects a report to be drawn up within four months.

The committee’s vice-chairman, Blundellsands representative Cllr Peter Papworth, said there are 21 roads in his ward that can be flooded with human waste.

He said: “Quite literally, raw sewage occasionally – having flowed out through the drains of the houses – comes up through the road-side drains instead of going down them.

“In this day and age, it’s unacceptable for sewage to be flowing down the roads and they have to arrange for something to be done about it.

“Once is too often and it happens more than that.”

He urged a “close eye” to be kept on the problem, adding: “The situation is in fact quite serious, but I don’t think we want to cause alarm about this.

“It needs a close eye kept on it. Sefton did the maintenance for the sewers – but now we don’t do it we are not too sure it is under control.”

Mr Moore’s report went on to say: “Flooding from public sewers is increasingly affecting larger areas and United Utilities, although tackling the problem, prioritise the flooding such that internal flooding is given the highest priority for funding, and highway and external property flooding is given a lower priority.”

A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “We understand Sefton's concerns and we will respond in full when we have received their correspondence.”

benschofield