Flooding caused by poor maintenance, says alliance

Flooding in up to 30 locations across a county could be the result of decades of missed maintenance, officers have said.

For the past two decades motorists using the bridge over Costessey Road, Taverham, Norfolk, have been left stranded or subjected to diversions each time heavy rainfall and storms have left parts of the village flooded.

Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance said a ditch and culvert on the River Wensum had been poorly maintained which had caused it to become blocked, leaving floodwater with nowhere to go but the road.

The group said it has outlined plans to tackle the flooding in Taverham as an example of work that could be replicated across the county.

Work has begun on the culvert including using a digger to clear the drain and while it would not stop the flooding, there were hopes the water would not settle on the road for as long.

Daniel Wray, Norfolk water management director for the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, said: "Unfortunately, when this road is flooded most routes out of Taverham and into Taverham are all flooded at the same time.

"It means just a large disruptive diversion for a lot of locals."

The culvert runs underneath Costessey Road to carry water from one ditch to the other, but due to lack of maintenance instead of flowing under the road it has flooded onto the road.

Wray said: "It's a common thing we are seeing, maintenance historically has dropped off on these water courses, ditches and culverts. A lot of the time that's due to a lack of understanding around the ownership.

"It can be quite complicated.... maintenance does work, it is the key thing to do."

During the maintenance work, Matthew Gooch, the operation manager at Norfolk Rivers Internal Drainage Board, said items found in the drain show years of waste build-up.

He said: "Being on the edge of the road you could tell [that] over the years the silt built up, [as] the number plates go from year to year... when cars have got stuck in the floodwater and number plates have come off.

"The culvert we uncovered was solid, there was no flow of water going here at all. This work is not stopping the road from flooding, what this work will do is actually get rid of the water from the road quicker than it currently does."

Henry Cator, the chairman of the Norfolk Strategic Flood Alliance, said the group had identified 30 sites in the county where flooding may have been caused by poor maintenance and checks should be a priority.

"There's a general attitude I'm afraid that maintenance is not sexy, because it should be. Maintenance is very important," he said.

"There's a great tendency to do nothing... I believe it is our problem because we are here to serve our communities and what makes a difference is keeping them free from flooding," he added.

Flash-flooding that damaged more than 100 homes in Attleborough in 2023 was said to have been partially caused by builders on a housing development blocking a stream.

A report found the Besthorpe Stream, which runs underneath the A11 near the Gables housing development, caused water to back up about 300m (330yds) upstream.

The report identified that other ditches and culverts had not been properly cleared and debris had contributed to flooding.

The Environment Agency said surface flooding was expected to put more than six million properties at risk between 2040 and 2060.

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