Letter from West Sussex County Council below:
The ongoing poor weather conditions continue to cause problems with Highways Works as well as causing flooding problems.
The main issue for general works is the constant disruption and delay and reprogramming of work, which is hampered by restrictions on road space caused by the Olympics and competing priorities of statutory undertakers works
The wet and humid conditions are causing rapid vegetation growth of trees, hedges and grass which creates a number of problems in itself with visibility particularly but also obstruction of footways and twittens etc
We cut urban grass 7 times per year, this is above the minimum recommended of 5 cuts which is the standard in East Sussex. May be more noticeable this year because 2 years ago we were cutting 11 times but reduced to 7, last year was dry so growth was slow.
The majority of locations around the County have had 3 cuts and are approaching their 4th . Cuts are scheduled at approx 5 week intervals. The weather is causing delays and the programme is constantly being amended, the gangs are working additional hours as well as undertaking additional cuts in some areas for the Olympic Torch Run and Flower in Bloom competitions. If weather continues as is we might have to consider funding extra cuts.
The conditions have resulted in a poor quality of cut. Contractors are supposed to clear channels after cut with blowers, unfortunately they are struggling in the wet conditions but we are pressing them to do and they are responding accordingly.
Rural Grass is cut 3 times per year, – 2 x 1m swathes and an overall cut at the end of the summer. 2nd cut has already started because of the growth which is a few weeks early. We are monitoring conditions and will probably have to undertake more visibility cuts if conditions persist.
The extreme wet weather is testing the drainage system to the full, not surprisingly this is highlighting many problems around the county, we recorded nearly 400 problems following the 10/11th June event alone. We will respond to all of these but as a consequence we are having to investigate the more significant of these under our new responsibilities under the Flood & Water Management Act – please see attached for greater explanation, which you will appreciate takes up even more resource. A consequence of this is that we are forging better relationships with both the Environment Agency and the Water Authorities and it will force the issue on a number of inherent problems including the Riperian ownership and management of ditches. We are also talking to the National Flood Forum with a view to them coming in to help set up Community Groups and Community Action plans in the worst effected areas. You will recall that as part of the Kickstart programme a Community Flood Fund was set up, at the beginning of May we wrote to Parish Councils asking for bids but focusing particularly on ditch systems. We are getting some responses but not as many as we expected by this point especially taking account of the weather.
The Met Office have again issued an amber warning for the next 3 days warning of heavy rain and the risk of flooding because the ground is now saturated in the majority of locations. Teams from all services are preparing to deal with the issues as they arise
As ever constant rain will lead to potholes and we already have additional gangs operating dealing with these. Some rural lanes are starting to become a concern where poor or total lack of drainage is causing them to break up altogether, particularly those that may only serve a handful of properties. The immediate solution for some of these will be to close except for access until such time as they dry up and emergency repairs can be undertaken
I appreciate that many people will get frustrated when we are not be able to respond as quickly as we would like but we are trying as best we can to deal with these ongoing pressures
