Recently Hertfordshire County Council agreed with its contractors Ringway that no action need be taken with flooding situations across roads if they last for less than 10 hours. Obviously the Conservative county councillor for Hemel Hempstead North West, Terry Douris, agrees with this – because he is the Executive Member with responsibility for Highways.
However, the Lib Dem county councillor for Tring, Nick Hollinghurst, believes that this amounts to a neglect that is contrary to the council’s statutory duty to keep the highways free from obstruction – as well as being an almighty inconvenience to local residents splashing though the muddy water.
Hamberlins Lane has been frequently flooded over the past several years, but Conservative county councillor for Bridgewater David Lloyd has never done anything about it despite it being in his county division!
Fortunately Cllr Hollinghurst was able to use his influence with the previous highways contractor to get a “grip” cut at the appropriate point in the road two years ago. (A “grip” is a short channel cut by hand with a spade through the low earth bank beside the road to allow drainage into a ditch or field.)
These channels only last for a year, and Ringway do not seem to feel the need to keep these unblocked. So Nick Hollinghurst dug it out himself last year. Now with the new “let it flood” policy they will certainly not be doing any clearance this year – so, taking advantage of today’s fine weather, he dug it out again this afternoon. The picture shows the lane clear once again.
Once again, job done. But the county council should ensure the highways are free from flooding and are unobstructed. Besides, they should know that flooding damages the roads.