‘Responsibility’ row over water (From Keighley News)

‘Responsibility’ row over water

9:05am Thursday 13th September 2012 in News By Miran Rahman

A Riddlesden woman says she is struggling to find a solution to a “river of water” which flows across her property whenever there is heavy rain.

Caroline Thackray, of Banks Lane, said the flooding across her garden and drive had been an issue for so long she feared it could harm the foundations of her house.

She claims the problem is caused by blocked and inadequate drainage outside the boundaries of her property, but that the district council would not acknowledge responsibility.

But Bradford Council says the water is building up due to a blocked stone culvert which is under Miss Thackray’s driveway.

In a letter to Miss Thackray, a Council officer stated the culvert appeared to be blocked by silt, and that this material would need to be removed.

He added: “Under riparian ownership the responsibility for maintaining a culvert lies with the owner of the land under which the culvert passes.

“Each landowner is responsible for ensuring their stretch of culvert is maintained in a suitable condition to allow water to flow.”

Miss Thackray, 44 – who has a nine-year-old son and works as an administrator for a firm in Bradford – said the Council was not accepting the results of a study conducted by private drainage firm Ansa Utilities.

The report, which was drawn up on behalf of her home’s insurers, concludes that the water is not coming from Miss Thackray’s own land.

“At the moment I’m not getting anywhere,” she said. “I’ve got water from the gulleys coming across my property and it’s like a river when it’s at its worst.

“The water ends up in my garden, driveway and garage. I don’t know whether it may have caused damage to the footings of my house.

“Yorkshire Water is saying that as the water doesn’t drop into the main sewer it’s nothing to do with them.”

Yorkshire Water declined to comment when contacted by the Keighley News.

Bradford Council senior drainage engineer Alan Davison said: “We have tried to help the residents of Banks Lane as much as possible and carried out detailed investigations.

“We have discovered a blockage in the culvert and the responsibility for clearing it to prevent the gardens from flooding lies with the owner of the land through which it flows.”