Councillors raise questions over how to fix drains in Peterborough's Bourges Boulevard after extreme rainfall

Concerns about flooding in Peterborough city centre have been addressed in a new report.

It comes as last year, torrential rain left many parts of Peterborough severely flooded in July - including Bourges Boulevard - in a ‘once in 70 years event’.

On the same stretch of city centre road this year, on 23 October, it was left underwater as the drains were overwhelmed by a deluge of rain.

It’s hoped the ‘Portfolio Holder Progress Report’ from the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning, Housing and Transport, will explain why these events occurred and what is being done to prevent recurrences in the future.

In August, a major £1.2 million project to fix the sewer infrastructure in Peterborough city centre was invested in by Anglian Water.

So, what’s been said?

Councillor Mohammed Jamil (Central, Labour and Cooperative Party) said: “Part of Bourges Boulevard runs through my ward and we all remember the flooding last year and again in 2022. But that section of one of Peterborough’s busiest roads was all dug-up and resurfaced and made good a few years back, so why wasn’t the issue of the drainage addressed at that time?

“Those drains have been flooding for years, and yet we dug them up and didn’t do anything. Now we’ve got to dig them up again to solve the problems with the drainage, but what guarantee do we have that this problem won’t happen again after that?”

‘Extreme rainfall’

Charlotte Palmer, head of Service Environment, Highways and Transport at Peterborough City Council said: “I think one thing we need to bear in mind is the extreme level rainfall we’ve had in very condensed periods of time.

“You will all recall, I am sure that back in July 2021, we saw 92mm of rainfall in three hours in that area of the city, which is a one in 70-year event. No drainage systems that we’ve got are designed to cope with that level of extreme rainfall so we always have to bear in mind that with a changing climate there are going to be challenges that we need to face.”

She said Peterborough City Council is working with Anglian Water to make sure that it understands where the issues are.

She added: “Most recently the event in July was 35mm of rain in about six hours, which is a once in 30-year event.

“Now, that cleared much more quickly, which shows that the drainage system is doing what it is meant to do, it just wasn’t able to cope with the sheer volume of water it was experiencing at that time – which is a challenge that we continue to make sure that we work on and develop as we go forward, adapting the city plans to a changing climate.”

Councillor Jamil responded: “I hear what you are saying, but with respect you don’t have to have that much water at that place for it to flood. What I can’t understand is if we’ve identified the problem and dug the road up several times, why are we still having the problem? What are Anglian Water going to do differently this time that’s not been tried already?”

Investigation ongoing

Ms Palmer said: “We are investigating that and looking back into what’s happened historically but if you can try and envisage the particular location there, the water is collecting in that part of Bourges Boulevard because it is the lowest lying part of city. The water gathers, and then flows down towards the river underneath the Asda car park where it has to make its way through a network of drains.

“The infrastructure beneath the highway is for a wider catchment area and needs to discharge into a smaller series of drains, and it just can’t cope with huge amounts of water like those we saw in 2021 and this July.

“So, we have, historically, improved certain sections of the drainage system and we will continue to look at these over time.”

Are there plans to clear the drains?

Councillor Fenner, asked: “There are a number of drainage ditches around the city and in the rural areas which are filled up with litter clogging their flow and others which are bone dry. To my knowledge these have not been looked at for at least a couple of years, and probably longer. It is my understanding that the council is responsible for cleaning the drainage system and the pipes between them. So, what are you doing about this?”

Ms Palmer replied: “We are responsible for the cleaning of the highway gullies and we have a programme of works that prioritises the drainage systems working our way around the city,

“There are, however, some areas that are more susceptible to flooding than others and the cleansing of these obviously takes priority. What I would suggest is that if you have particular locations that you are concerned about, send those details through to me and I will contact our drainage engineer who knows the city drainage system inside out, and he will know exactly what is being done, when its due to be cleaned again, and if you have any particular concerns he can deal with those.

“I would just add that our responsibility is limited and we do work very closely with Anglian Water, so if the responsibility is theirs, then they will take care of it, and if it ours then we can work to resolve that.”

Members approved the approach being taken under the portfolio.

The next meeting of the Growth, Resources and Communities Scrutiny Committee is on 23 January 2023.