Overslade Lane water seepage resolved

For years water has oozed out of a small copse owned by Rugby Borough Council across the pavement and onto Overslade Lane. The seepage has made the pavement and the footpath through the copse dangerous particularly during icy weather.

Last autumn Severn Trent contractors visited the site but could not find the source of the water - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a4Rln .

Local councillor Bill Lewis (Lib Dem, Rokeby & Overslade) and a resident tried to get the tory controlled borough council to investigate their land to see if they could find the source of the problem but nothing was done.

This winter the flow of water increased making the problem worse and in February Cllr Lewis persuaded the county council's highway team to act by diverting the growing stream into an existing drain.

On Thursday (26 March 2015) the county council's highways team arrived to put in a diversion. Shortly after starting work they found the source of the problem. The problem lay on the borough council's land just where Cllr Lewis had always suspected the problem was. A pipe crossing the borough's land was there to take away spring water but was almost entirely blocked with tree roots. Warwickshire County Council has now cleared the pipe and constructed a new manhole. In future the pipes can be regularly checked and blockages dealt with. The water now flows directly into the drains and the area is now a lot safer.

If only the borough council had acted when Cllr Lewis and the residents first raised the issue this could all have been sorted out months ago.

Local residents Stephen Sargent and Glenda Allanach (pictured) are pleased that the problem has finally been sorted.