Flooded out Wigan residents in call for action

Resident Tom Green said his mother-in-law Ellen Jolley’s home, in Spring Road, Orrell, was hit once again by flooding during the severe weather from Storm Ciara earlier this month.

He said that the problems have been caused by a culvert across the road from the 89-year-old’s home which he has claimed is not maintained properly by Wigan Council.

Mr Green said the flood water got into Ms Jolley’s porch at the front of the house and into the garage.

A section of Spring Road was also badly flooded.

The 64-year-old, who lives in nearby Gathurst Road, said: “The flooding has happened once before a few years back in Ellen’s house

“The council need to keep the culvert clear, as once autumn arrives, the leaves hit it and it silts up and ends up blocking it and causing it to flood.

“It’s not been cleared for two years and what is needed is for a JCB to come out and clear it so this doesn’t happen again, as my mother-in-law is 89 and shouldn’t have to deal with this.

He said the road where the calvert is attracts problems with fly-tipping.

He added: “There is an old road blocked off and it draws people there who dump rubbish and it finishes off in the brook and makes the problem worse.”

Wigan Council said the culvert does fall under the council’s highways for maintenance and that it is “regulary inspected” for its correct operation and cleaned when necessary.

But it said that the maintenance of the water course either side of the highway culvert does not fall under the responsibility of the council and is maintained by the land owner.

A council spokesman said: “With Storm Ciara bringing extreme weather to the borough, this was one of number of incidences of localised flooding of the highway that the council dealt with.

“On this situation, debris had quickly built-up on the guard cage protecting the entrance to the culvert. This had the adverse impact of surface water building-up behind the debris and unfortunately over running on to Spring Road.

“After being notified of the issue, the council’s Highway Operations team attended site to deal with the situation. Once the debris had been removed, the water subsided from the highway and passed through the culvert.

“The council does carry out regular inspections of all of its highway drainage infrastructure, since Storm Ciara, this culvert has been put on an increased maintenance schedule and any debris or build-up of silt will be removed as necessary.”