Please can you confirm the following:
1. Please can you confirm if all your storm gullies in roads, have their discharge locations shown on your asset mapping systems. Does this show the full drainage path eg from storm gully to the actual discharge location?
The information is incomplete. There is greater confidence in newer systems especially in regard to developments and particularly in urban environments. The Council records geospatially where all known highway gullies are. However, information regarding drainage runs and discharge locations is variable particularly in terms of historical gully systems within rural locations. When local teams are made aware of gully outfalls, particularly following drainage maintenance then these are added to the inventory system.
2. Can you confirm if you have legal evidence to show where all your storm gullies flow, eg in cases where storm gullies run into the sewers. In these cases where does the legal responsibility of ownership end, eg in regard to your maintenance of these assets? I ask as one highways department as confirmed that they have two sets of storm gullies in one village that they maintain in road, but do not know where or who owns their discharge locations or has legal responsibility for maintenance.
There is no consistent legal evidence confirming where all the Council highway storm gullies outfall too, for example they can be into combined sewers, roadside ditches, attenuation tanks, settling ponds and other watercourses. In some instances there is historic documentation where outfalls may flow through private land but again this can be variable. For newer systems the information is much more consistent with formalised agreements in terms of asset adoption.
3. Can you confirm if you have a fully mapped system showing all storm gullies and who has legal responsibility for them, once their leave the highways?
The Council has a geo spatially located inventory system of all known highway gullies maintained at public expense. It does not hold a complete inventory of all responsibilities in terms of outfall.
4. Can you confirm if you have maintenance programmes to check that drainage discharge locations are being maintained for storm gullies in the roads?
All gully pots are inspected on a cyclical basis in accordance with our drainage policy. In most scenarios outfalls are maintained on an as needs basis and when blockages occur preventing highway water from discharging away from the gullies. This maintenance is normally actioned through the process of high pressure jetting through the system to outfall.
5. Can you confirm that any legal easements you have for storm gullies drainage have been kept and you have copies of all these agreements. As again one highways seems to have lost certain easement agreements.
Some historic legal easements exist but this is not consistent. In many cases the council relies on prescriptive rights. For more recent easements, officers will add these agreements to our records.
6. Have you reviewed any of your old riparian rights, and ensured that these drainage assets are still being maintained?
The Council’s riparian rights to maintain and repair watercourses within the highway are reviewed on a reactive basis in response to drainage and flooding enquiries and events.