Resident says flood fears were ignored (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Resident says flood fears were ignored

11:58am Tuesday 28th August 2007 in Local By Jen Rivett

A RESIDENT whose home ended up under two feet of water in the recent floods claims that not enough was done to prevent the problem.

Peter Patel's home in Hartley Lane, Sherfield-on-Loddon, was flooded in July for the second time after torrential rain hit the area.

The same thing happened seven years ago, and Mr Patel is angry that nothing was done to avoid a repeat.

He said: "The Environment Agency and Hampshire Highways are aware of our plight and I have a letter from the Environment Agency after the flooding in 2000.

"Suffice to say that, while the letter clearly states the causes of the flooding, nothing concrete has been done to prevent it from happening again, and it did happen again."

He claims that the causes are due to overflowing ditches and silted-up drains, which are not cleared properly.

No one seems to accept the responsibility for maintaining the infrastructure of the environment

Peter Patel

Mr Patel added: "No one seems to accept the responsibility for maintaining the infrastructure of the environment."

He estimates that the flooding caused £60,000 worth of damage to his 16th-century cottage and wants reassurance that the same thing will not happen again.

However, Hayley Willoughby, a press officer for the Environment Agency, said it was not the agency's problem.

She said: "The Environment Agency does not own the rivers or hold the day-to-day responsibility for the maintenance of watercourses. This falls to the riparian owner.

"The Environment Agency is formulating its policy to influence the duty on riparian owners to maintain watercourses in these systems.

"However, we do have permissive powers to clear streams and rivers of blockages if they pose a medium or high risk