Recent heavy rain has rocked Sunderland, with drains flooding across the city – affecting businesses and residents alike. At last nights meeting of the Economic Prosperity Scrutiny in Sunderland Council, councillors were presented with a report on the Councils plans and preparedness for flooding.
This included a 7-year Flood Alleviation and Capital Maintenance Programme and a £28 million grant from Central Government granted in April 2020 and running to March 2027, but committee member Councillor Lyall Reed has raised concerns that more needs to be done to guarantee public safety and keep our drains cleared.
Commenting Councillor Lyall Reed, Conservative spokesperson for Environment and Transport said:
There are genuine questions and concerns that I have about the state and quality of some of the drains in Sunderland.
I have had many residents get in touch about fears of sunken drains and regular flooding locations. The heavy rains we have seen this week have only made me even more worried about the very ground beneath our feet. Local residents and businesses in my ward have been washed out because our drains can’t seem to handle seasonal and predictable heavy rain - Heavy rain that will happen again and does happen every year.
There have been incidents of collapsed drains in my ward, and I think all partners need to work together tackle this issue and to make sure our streets don’t flood or collapse.
Some of Sunderland’s drainage infrastructure is from the Victorian era and the Council needs to change from being reactive to proactive when it comes to repairing and maintaining our drains and gullies.
