Occold Flood Working Group. – update 10/11/2024
The after effects of Storm Babet, where at least five houses in the village were flooded, resulted in the creation of the Occold Flood Group . The Flood Group consists of Mid-Suffolk Councillor Lucy Elkin, Angela Hall and Andrew Duggett from the Parish Council, and volunteers whose homes were affected by the storm. The group is meeting monthly and is liaising closely with Andrew Stringer, County Councillor, and Suffolk Highways to determine what mitigating action can be taken to manage flooding and water volumes. The Group is working with the Parish Council to purchase some portable flood defences, suitable for deployment to help houses at risk from rising water levels or the wash created by vehicles driving through flooded roads, and some road closed signs with support from the SCC emergency teams.
10/11/2024
The drainage system in Occold has been significantly altered over the years by house building and changes in land use. Ponds have been filled in, ditches have been piped or filled in too. Understanding where the rainwater does drain to has been a challenging topic and the working group is close to having a definative map which will be useful with highlighting pinch points.
On Saturday morning, 8th November, members of the working group helped by some village residents visited properties along Church Street to understand the direction the rainwater travels, it is not always obvious, and what condition the drainage pipes and ditches that run along the property boundaries were in. It was an interesting morning and essentially we discoverd that pipes and ditches were in a good shape. There is a significant pinch point where the ditch in front of Cedars Rise empties into a drain culvert adjacent to Cedar Cottage, which was a property which suffered during Storm Babet.
All of this adds to our knowledge of what can be acheived during the next storm event.
30/10/2024
The Occold emergency plan has been sent to the Babergh and Mid Suffolk emergency group for evaluation. The plan sets out the actions the individuals in the group need to try and take if we have another storm related flooding incident in the village. To support the deployment of warning signs to warn of road flooding, which was the case with Storm Babet, Councillors Weller and Duggett have gained an NRSWA SLG Operatives certificate which means all such activity would be covered by BMSC insurance. Alongside the emergency plan a Flood Card will be produced and issued to residents. The Flood Card will list emergency numbers and how to contact the Occold Flood Group members who may be able to offer some emergency short term help. Remember to look at the links here which will help you plan for your own situation and circumstances.
https://suffolkprepared.co.uk/get-prepared/prepare-yourself/ for further guidance and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-flood-plan
11/06/2024
The first meeting took place in December 2023 with the key action point of beginning to map the drains and ditches around the village. The surface water drainage system in Occold has evolved over many centuries and is far from intuitive. One of the benefits from having a definitive map will be understanding which landowner or property owner has responsibilty for lengths of ditch and culvert and from that work to determine whether help is required to maintain or clear overgrown areas where necessary. The mapping exercise has made excellent progress and we now have the first draft of an Occold wide map showing drains, culverts and water flow. This will be revised over the next month or so and be a key document for all future work. The map will be shared with Highways to help fill in some blanks in their records.
The first draft of an emergency plan has been produced and the group has begun identifying some key partners which need to be involved in the whole process. One of these is ORAC who are custodians of a major village asset, the village hall. The ORAC committee have a significant amount of local knowledge which will be an invaluable addition to the overall management of the flooding issue. When the plan is in a fit state it will be shared on these pages for comment and wider availability.
In the meantime the group is after some volunteers. (Don’t lose interest at this point!)
The portable flood defences and Road Closed signs are the first step in understanding what practical activity is needed to help stop or slow down flood water. To deploy the Road Closed signs, and anything similar on the highway, requires volunteers to be trained to recognised best practice and to manage the risks. Suffolk County Council offer training courses which deal with these issues and this is where you may like to become involved. Ideally a core number of people will raise their hands and say I’m in. If that is you then let me know on the village facebook site or email the editor@occold.com.
All of the training on offer is free of charge with the benefit of the individual being covered by the SCC insurance if the signs have to be deployed.
Whilst the group continues to gain traction it would be worth visiting https://suffolkprepared.co.uk/get-prepared/prepare-yourself/ for further guidance and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-flood-plan which has further details about preparing for flooding.
It is worth noting that Occold is not in a flood area. We do not have a river or other body of water nearby which could cause major flooding.
If we get some plans in place now then we will be in a better place after the summer is over, if it ever begins, and the autumn rains starts to arrive.
Andrew Duggett
11/06/2024