Syston Floods Update
Since writing the article that appeared in the February issue, things have moved on.
We have attended a couple more Syston Town Council’s meetings and listened to the progress being made.
For residents is it frustrating not to see any action with regard to clearing the Barkby Brook.
However, it is good to report that The Environment Agency have been in February to cut back trees and vegetation around the car park and along the brookside. However, a lot of these trees are Willows and they will regrow from the base, so if the de-silting that is planned for this year isn’t done as soon as the water has receded to a safe level, they will begin to grow and cause more problems. The town Council are putting as much pressure as they can on the Environment agency and with the help of the residents doing the same between us hopefully, the brook will be put back to how it was twenty years ago.
As we reported last issue the Stn had been in touch and reported the failure of the early warning system in the brook and about the sluice gates on the Grand Union Canal. Below is the response we received:
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:
“Asset ID 559563 is a river level gauge located on Brookside in Syston. The gauge is currently used by the Environment Agency to issue a high river level alarm to internal Flood Incident Duty Officers which instigates flood patrols.
“The Environment Agency aims to provide a flood warning service to Syston by the end of this calendar year. The data to issue the alerts and warnings will be taken from this river level gauge asset.”
Background
The Environment Agency is not responsible for the gates identified in the photograph sent (gates numbered 55). To clarify, we hold no records of third-party gates downstream that could be opened to release more water.
In the recent flood the Melton Mowbray area received 34mm of rainfall in four hours. Under normal circumstances 34mm would be expected to fall over a 2–3 week period.
Since this reply Stn has contacted the Canals and River Trust under the freedom of Information Act and sent photographs on the Sluice Gates and Weir. We are awaiting their rely and will update you when we have received a response.
Add Date of the 1-2-1 meeting at Syston Town Council 20th March 2pm until 7pm.