How the Syston Floods Have Affected Residents Long After the Water Has Receded!

January, and oh how it rained, and it was only day two! By teatime it was coats on, hood up, off out, round the corner to look at the brook, and what a hasty retreat home it was, we’d never seen the water so high. Within an hour wellington boots were on as the brook burst and the torrent of muddy water ran down the road, through gardens and sadly for some into their homes.
We are truly thankful our home wasn’t flooded, and the garden has bounced back following the deluge, life always seems better when the sun shines, but when it rains, it rains a lot!
These past months have been hard mentally, rain, more rain, all things flood related gets inside your head, did we do this, did we ask that, then asking yourself ‘why bother, no one’s listening anyway’?!
Positive things will now happen, but slowly (no one’s got the resources to act fast nowadays) and we all question ‘why did the brook get so bad, simple, not enough was done to maintain it’ reducing its capacity over 20 years to what you see now!
Going forward to keep the brook well maintained (like it used to be) we need Charnwood Borough & Syston Town council (who each own a large stretch) to be seen to be doing their bit to maintain their bank to the middle of the brook as riparian owners, and residents and land owners who boarder the brook please seek advice and do your bit, work with the Environment Agency, details of how to contact then are shown below, as they do have the final say over this stretch of water.
Syston deserves better than we’ve currently got – don’t we?
Lastly but not least, our thoughts go out to those residents whose homes were affected, we cannot imagine how hard these past months have been for you and your families. We trust that the authorities will have taken note of the misery and heartache the flooding caused you, and that lessons will have been learnt, and that in the months and years to come residents (the ratepayer) will feel that they actually matter, that the town of Syston matters, and the Barkby brook which is front and centre will be maintained and improved for generations to come, because it matters to!
M&K (Residents)

For more information or to contact the EA:
Call: 03708 506 506
email: EMDenquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Incident hotline: 0800 807060
Please use this number, which is open 24 hours a day, to report incidents such as flooding, blockages, unusual flow of water, damaged flood defences or pollution.