Cllr Sample has asked the Board to note that road drains in George Street South are not working and need replacing.
He asks the Board to support a recommendation that Council notes the potential danger to public health in the area and the damage to private properties in George Street South and calls on Wiltshire Council to allocate the budget next year to replace the drains as a matter of priority.
Cllr Paul Sample JP, Salisbury St Edmunds Ward
Minutes:
Cllr Paul Sample explained that the road drains in George Street South were not working, he stated that these needed replacing and highlighted issues he had encountered when trying to resolve the issue. Cllr Sample felt that there were other properties in Salisbury with similar issues and wanted to ensure that Wilshire Council had the budget to replace the drains.
Richard Williams, Land Drainage Engineer, Wiltshire Council, explained that the Council was aware of the problems and the issue at George Street South was on the list of works to undertake and the risks were being managed. The list was prioritised according to risk and need, and this site was further down the list. Occasionally issues lower down the list would need to wait until the following financial year due to budgetary constraints. The officer stated that undermining of the house had not been reported to Wiltshire Council and if the resident reported it, the site could be reassessed. It was acknowledged that the system was slow draining. The carrier was Wessex Water and they had been spoken to about getting the system jetted.
Cllr Sample suggested cross department working to ensure that the Council use traffic orders to prevent cars parking on drains when gully cleaning teams came out. He felt that it was his role as a councillor to report issues his residents faced and that the Council needed to ensure that funds were available for basic issues such as blocked drains.
Cllr Sample proposed a motion that the Board note that the road drains in George Street South were not working and needed replacing. He also requested that the Board support a recommendation that Council notes the potential danger to public health in the area and the damage to private properties in George Street South and calls on Wiltshire Council to allocate the budget next year to replace the drains as a matter of priority.
Cllr Mark McClelland as Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste, Street Scene and Flooding, highlighted that there was a process in place and professional officers of the Council assessed all requests that came in across the County and prioritised those according to risk and within a limited budget, so the budget had to go to the most acute issues. Cllr McClelland stated that as he understood it there was no immediate public health risk at present and that the issue in George Street South was more complicated than simply unblocking a drain. His advice was that this issue should go through the normal process to be resolved, rather than circumventing established processes, although he understood Cllr Samples desire to push this issue up the agenda. The proposed motion was discussed.
Cllr Sample amended the motion on the basis of Cllr McClelland’s comments and proposed the Board to note that the road drains in George Street South were not working and needed replacing and to support a recommendation to raise awareness of this with the Cabinet Member. This was seconded by Cllr Ricky Rogers.
A debate followed whereby there was discussion highlighting that there were drainage issues across Salisbury and that there were processes in place to deal with problems and that this particular issue had been raised with the Cabinet Member during the meeting. There were worries that all Board Members in future would bring forward motions to the Area Board regarding issues in their ward. Therefore, some Members felt unable to support the motion. There was general support for Cllr Sample’s motives, however it was felt that perhaps this was not the correct tool or format to raise the issue. Others felt there no issues with Members bringing motions to the Area Board or even Full Council and were fully supportive.
At the conclusion of the debate, it was,
Resolved:
· To note that the road drains in George Street South were not working and needed replacing
· To support a recommendation that Council raise awareness of this with the Cabinet Member