Residents in a street in Hove have resorted to sandbags as they try to protect their homes from flooding today (Saturday 31 December).
The floodwater has gathered in a dip in Poplar Avenue, in Hangleton, near West Way and the Grenadier pub – and where the drains appear to have become blocked.
The water level has continued to rise in the steady rain today, with surges when vehicles drive through.
But so far there has been no official response to people whose homes are at risk of flooding despite one councillor’s efforts to contact the town hall.
Labour councillor Amanda Grimshaw said: “The flooding’s getting worse. It’s even higher today than yesterday.
“I’ve emailed Brighton and Hove City Council twice now – once yesterday and again today.
“I can’t get through to the highways emergency line either. They have cut me off once already.
“Now I’m stuck with the phone just ringing and no answer. It just cuts me off after a 10-minute wait.
“Cars are still attempting to drive through and the water is creeping up on to people’s driveways.
“It’s a total shambles that there’s no response.”
One Hangleton resident said: “They seem to be rewilding the gutters up here – and no one seems to be clearing all the leaves that come down from the trees in the autumn.
“It’s all well and good having a go at Southern Water for their foul water discharges but the council needs to play its part.
“They always used to keep the gutters fairly clear but now they don’t seem to any more – and it’s made it unsafe for anyone driving, cycling or walking.
“Everything just gets washed into the sewers when it rains – especially when there’s a lot of rain like recently – and then the gutters and sewers end up blocked.
“With this amount of rain, it’s got to come out one way or another – into people’s homes, as it’s now threatening to do, or out the other end, probably into the sea.
“It’s not very environmentally friendly, that’s for sure, but this wouldn’t be happening if the council did its job.”
i do not know why Amanda has been named as dealing with the problems i have in POPlar Ave she is not the councillor in Hangleton and i have been dealing with the situation for the last 48hours
councillor Dawn Barnett
No weed clearance, no street sweepers, no gully cleaning and no maintenance of footpaths and roads (the damage to which is accelerated by no weed clearance) will lead to flooding. Again our Council fails on the most basic of care of the assets entrusted to it. But when you actually believe that the end of the world is nigh it is maybe easier to ignore such responsibilities.
Why has Amanda been involved with this. Thank you for your help but I can assure you it’s not needed
Cllr Dawn Barnett has been dealing with this since being reported by emails to Dawn and myself as the local Hangleton and Knoll councillors on Thursday
Cllr Nick Lewry
There should be planning permission required to prevent people concreting over their front gardens for car parking.
Judging by the photo that’s part of the problem.
More importantly why are there no Tory councillors in the photo ?
As someone from Brighton, “oh no “Hove actually” is drowning”… Oh well it was good while it lasted, would seem god has had enough of the snobs.
Might be something to do with the Council’s agenda of rolling out CPZs, and thus trying to screw more money out of residents who have the audacity of expecting to park for free outside their houses in suburban areas
If the Tory government hadn’t cut finances by half over the last 12 years the problem would not arise. Typical Torys blaming everyone else but themselves.
Michael Baker
Typical incorrect comment.
The Government have not cut anything by half, where did you get that rubbish from.
What has happened is the Government haven’t given councils as much as they need. BHCC claim £100m over 12 years, or an avarage of £8.3m p/a.
We pay the council for basic services, Rubbish, Recycling and weeding etc out of our council taxes, that is a legal requirement but as we all know is a complete failure.
Spending eyewatering amounts on Bike hubs out of tax payers money, up coming Hove and Elm Grove vanity projects highlights exactly the poor planning of our so called council leaders.
Priorities seem to be upside down, lovely so called neon art work just gone in on madeira drive, great, perhaps we will get caught up in all the weeds admiring this overpriced junk.
It’s interesting that councillors are now arguing about who has done the most to deal with this issue when the flooding has been going on for months, indeed since heavy rain ended a very dry summer.
The true story here is one of neglect, with the council failing to carry out basic services over a long period, with us now seeing the predictable outcome of that neglect.
I’m in Hove but near the seafront and the lower end of our roads have been flooded on several occasions recently as the water runs to the lowest point – where the drains are supposed to deal with the flow.
These drain sumps have not been emptied this year.
We have not seen a street cleaner in two years here and so the drains were full of uncollected dirt and debris. Then our trees were not pruned or ‘pollarded’, and last summer the trees on the west of our road met the trees on the east side, so that high-sided vehicles could no longer pass.
Those trees then dropped their leaves which were not collected in the usual way – to be made into composted soil. So the leaves mulched down into further soil on the pavements and road which then blocked our gullies and filled the drains.
We can also expect a worsening weed problem in 2023, and our paving slabs are already lifting because of this long term neglect.
This is not actually a political issue but one of basic services.
Another commentator here, presumably a green cheerleader, says it’s our fault for paving over part of the front garden to make a parking space, once again victim blaming rather than taking responsibility.
Any true green gardener knows you can ‘rewild’ part of your space if you want to, but that’s not an excuse to let your home and surrounding infrastructure fall into disrepair.
When your basement flat is flooded or getting damp and mouldy it’s no help to blame climate change – when the true cause is blocked drains.
The council will no doubt claim lack of funds when in fact they have had huge amounts to spend in the road budgets, and they squirrelled away millions into the climate neutral fund which they then used for many pet projects which only had a negative effect on our carbon footprint.
Let’s hope we see a return to common sense in 2023.
Billy Short – total nonsense as usual. Perhaps if people like you didn’t take such a polarised black and white view on issues things would actually get fixed because the right solutions would be sought. But no, much easier to blame the council for everything isn’t it!
But Jen, it is actually the council’s job to clean our streets and gutters. And their failings have consequences, including in the sewers and, if it keeps raining, in people’s homes.
Jen
What a stupid comment, of course it’s the fault of the council, they are NOT doing their jobs, it’s so simple anyone with an ounce of a brain would know that.
Everybody is sick and tired of the Greens and their apologists
Whats the problem with a local resident such as Amanda showing interest in a matter of concern for other local resident?
Is Amanda a resident in Poplar Avenue, as well as being a Labour Councillor for the Moulsecoomb & Bevendean ward?
Lots of blocked drains in Hove – full of rotten leaves etc. If you see a blocked drain report it. BHCC seemed to have stopped doing the regular drain clearing maintenance that used to happen when they turned up with the big “suckers” and cleared drains. Green council is negligent in ensuring streets are well maintained and safe (look at weeds, drains, broken pavement slaps, tree roots) so it behooves residents to alert BHCC whenever a problem is spotted.
All part of the Green Gift! Perhaps we should ask how cllr Lloyd’s rewilding project is going? Let the verges and pavement weeds grow out of control and don’t sweep up the autumn leaves. But it’s ok … we’ve got lots of new cycle lanes and hangars being rolled out
Personally, if there was a blocked drain threatening to flood my home, I think I’d be outside trying to get rid of the leaves and whatever else was causing it. Most times all it takes is a stick swirled around the drain.
If it is really bad, try doing it by hand, using a black bag as an arm glove.
Hi Vince ~ as someone directly affected by this i can confirm that the reason this hasnt had a serious impact is due to the team effort of people living in the area. The council and Southern water are to blame for what is currently a serious blockage rendering the drains incapacitated, that, plus the holiday season has slowed things down further. The drains are being professionally looked at and due to be repaied by Southern Water, once completed this should be but a distant memory. p.s. i have a great idea as to where you can give your ‘stick’ a swirl.
That’s kind of you to offer, but you aren’t my type.