Call for new action to tackle flooded Peterborough footpath that leaves school children wet and muddy
Parents have made a new call for action to repair a footpath used by school children which regularly becomes flooded and muddy.
The demand comes eight months after repairs were first made to the footpath off Queen Street and via Hampton Water that is regarded as the safest route for youngsters to get to Hampton Gardens School in Hartland Avenue.
Parents complained that their children were arriving at school with wet and muddy shoes and clothes because the footpath would flood in wet weather.
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They say the route is still the safest way for children to walk or cycle to school rather than a route alongside the busy A15.
Although O&H Properties, which is responsible for the land, has made improvements to the footpath, the long hot summer has meant the path had not been tested by any prolonged wet weather.
But heavy downpours over the last few months appear to have triggered the flooding again.
Parent Ian Bowskill, of Yaxley, said that O&H has earlier this year engaged contractors to address the issue and it looked like the issue had been resolved.
"However, since completing the work until now there has actually been very little rainfall so the work undertaken on this pathway and not really been stress tested.
"Following some light rain the pathway has immediately started to flood again and for walkers in some areas it is again almost impassable."
Now Mr Bowskill is calling on O&H to take another look at the issues surrounding the footpath.
He warns: “My concerns are that the heaviest and most persistent rain normally occurs November to February and if the pathway cannot cope with the lighter rain at present this will only get worse as the weather deteriorates and the rain increases.”
O&H has been approached for a response.
But in an email to Mr Bowskill and seen by the Peterborough Telegraph, a representative of O&H has pointed out that the route is a rural field boundary path and is not constructed from ‘bound material’ used on highways and is prone to becoming seasonally wet and soft underfoot during periods of rain.