The Welney Wetsite (!)
Wash Road floods, 2006-7, page 1
this page last updated Saturday, 03 March 2007
Stop Press: The Flood Line recorded announcement at 9am on Friday 26th Jan informed us that the water depth on the Wash Road was 500mm (20 inches). By 3pm on Tuesday 30th the Flood Line reported the Wash Road was now dry and that Highway Authorities had been advised to remove signs. Norfolk acted quickly, but not so Cambridgeshire Highways - at 1pm on Wed 31st Jan, the large signs on the A10 at Ely still showed flooding and diversions!!!
The Ouse Washes have experienced the worst flooding since the winter of 2002/3, causing havoc to businesses and residents. The washes were of course designed to be a holding area for excessive rainwater draining down the Great Ouse from Bedford before being discharged into the sea, but Met Office records show that rainfall has not been exceptionable this winter. Many people believe that the Environment Agency ("EA"), who are responsible for the drainage of the rivers and washes, have failed to take measures to alleviate the problem of flood waters closing our local road by allowing sluices to become silted up. The claims are refuted by the Agency.
The first two photos here were taken by Welney resident Mark Farrow on 2nd December 2006.
Sadly, the scene remained pretty much the same for more than nine weeks.
For most of the time from late November 2006 to pm on 30th January 2007, a half mile or so section of the A1101 road, known as Welney Causeway or Welney Wash Road, has been flooded where it crosses the Ouse Washes. Water depth has varied, but has often been several feet. This has meant long diversions for motorists, either via the A142 to the south at Mepal or the A1122 to the north at Downham Market.
The red sign urges drivers to check the depth of water on the gauges - but they are way beyond the speed de-restriction signs and a car would probably be flooded before getting to them. And yes, the barrier is on the wrong side of the road. But not always.
For local residents, the postman, delivery drivers and through traffic this can add 20 miles to their journey. Children have been unable to get to the village school, and local businesses have lost considerable trade.
Welney Parish Council contacted the EA in December, putting the concerns of residents and businesses to them, and have requested a response to a number of questions in an attempt to bring an end to the flooding which periodically affects the village.
Council Chairman Ken Goodger has waded into the flood problem personally, spearheading an action group. He said "The tidal river, the Ouse, is silted up and has not had the work done on it that it used to get years ago." He explained that the average flooding depth on the A1101 was 18 inches and that raising the road just one foot would avoid many of the flooding problems. "I think everybody affected would like to see the road raised," he said. "We are a modern community and should not have to put up with it. For us it is not a case of what could be done, but when it can be done."
"The EA told us Welmore sluice [situated at end of the River Delph to drain the Washes into the river] is working, but it can't work when the river is full of silt. When you ride over the bridges at Downham, Stowbridge and St. Germans, look at all the silt that's in the river. There's no way they're going to get the water off the washes when it's silted up like that. When they can't get the water off, the road floods. If they could only just raise it 15 or 16 inches it would make a lot of difference".
Parish councillors have also asked Mr. Christopher Fraser, the MP for SW Norfolk, to raise the issue with Government. Mr Fraser said after meeting Cllr. Goodger, "There is no doubt that this is already a very serious problem that potentially could get much worse if it is not addressed as a matter of urgency. The root of the problem seems to be the silting up of Wellmore Sluice and Denver Sluice. Dredging has not been carried out for some time, and the silt has solidified so that the flow of water, even in time of flood, is not sufficiently strong to wash the silt through. It is time that the government and the Environment Agency realised that they cannot ignore the problems of the fens on the basis that it would cost too much to resolve."
The Parish Council clerk, Mrs Pat Copeman, said: "Motorists who do not read warning signs about the flooding were causing additional problems. They see they cannot get across and then struggle to turn around because the road is so narrow, the big problem has been the lorries, with some forced to turn around in the car park of the Lamb and Flag."
One of the businesses hardest hit is the Lamb and Flag Inn, where trade has dropped by a third. Landlord Dennis Birch said: "Generally we are very busy through the year but when the road floods people will not travel that extra distance to get here. It is mainly lunchtime trade we are losing. People come here from the Wetlands Trust (on the other side of the washes) and we sometimes do up to 40 lunches, but at the moment we are doing only three or four."
Despite the floods the pub is set to be open
every day over the festive period, with food served every day except Christmas
Day. But Mr Birch's partner Georgina Webb said: "We do not approach it any
differently because you have got to be ready for your customers. But the first
thing we have to do is lay off staff because we have not got the money coming
in to pay them." Mr Birch claims the problems have been caused by poor
management in de-silting the river, and by homes being built on flood plains.
"If people keep doing this it will get worse," she said, adding that low
oxygen levels in the river, caused by the silt build-up, was killing fish."
The William Marshall Primary School has also been hit, with up to a fifth of the 35 children struggling to get to school. Even the village postman has encountered problems, being forced to travel the extra 21 miles around Downham Market to get to the homes on the other side of the washes.
Another businessman whose trade has suffered is Peter Redman, who with his wife Wendy has run the village shop and post office in Welney for 30 years. He has warned about the silt problem before, and insists the flooding is caused by the Environment Agency's failure to stop Welmore sluice becoming clogged. The agency has denied that.
Mr Redman said the agency had been slow to react to the problem of silt in the tidal river between St German's and Welmore sluice. "When they built the sluice in 2000 they were aware of the tidal river silting up, but they still put doors in, instead of pumping the water which would have moved it."
He also accused the agency of not doing anything until there is an emergency. "When the road first flooded [in November] the Environment Agency could not get the sluice doors open at Welmore. The water had been on the road almost a week before the doors were operative and was [by then] at least two feet deep." He warned that problems would get worse for village businesses and that house prices would be affected until the agency faces up to the fact the River Delph must be dredged.
In December an Environment Agency spokesman said that the flooding had not been caused by Welmore Sluice being blocked, but the sluice's inability to discharge water at low tide levels. "We have recognised that siltation of the tidal river is a major issue for the general public and for ourselves" she said. "We have just commissioned consultants to undertake an all-encompassing strategic review of the tidal river, which will include a further assessment of the causes of the siltation and recommendations for controlling/managing it." She also dismissed claims that the river should be dredged, saying it was both expensive and unsustainable.
In January the Environment Agency announced that repairs to Denver Sluice [downstream from Welmore Sluice] are included in a £19million package of flood defence measures. The massive gates have become so silted that they cannot be opened to allow water from the Ouse to run off through the tidal river course, which has become silted up as river flows are diverted via the relief channel. The sluice would be dammed off and the gates cleared of silt for inspection, to see if modifications could be made to stop them silting up in future. The inspection would establish if the doors could be replaced and the plan would be to install some form of mechanism to get rid of the silt.
Nigel Wooton, the Environment Agency's area flood risk manager, said "The problem of silt in the tidal river is a much bigger problem and we have a study being funded next year to look at the issue of silt and how we might deal with the problem," he said. "Dredging the silt is not the answer."
After hundreds of years of recorded siltation problems in our sluggish fen rivers, one would have thought the EA would already know the answers, and would be spending our money on remedial action rather than paying consultants for yet another expensive survey.
To check the A1101 Wash Road flood status - Phone 'Flood-Line' 0n 0845 988 1188, choose option 1, then key in 'quick-dial number' 03363. You do not have to hear the full recorded announcements, as soon as the first one starts press 1, and when the second begins tap in the quick dial number. But be aware that the information is only updated daily, usually between late morning and mid-afternoon.
Report based on various articles on the Cambs24 website and in the The Cambs Times, with additional input by the webmaster. We are grateful to the Cambs Times for permission to post extracts on the Welney Website. Photo of Councillor Goodger is by Matthew Usher; Gina and Dennis of the Lamb & Flag courtesy of The Cambs Times. The Cambs Times editorial office is at 51 High Street, March. PE15 9JJ, tel 01354 652621.