Flooding West Bedlington

[Maggie/915]

The cemetery is in serious trouble.

The old waterways around seem to be failing.

I wonder why?

New houses , blocked channels / drains or just changing weather patterns.

Walking in line with the Netherton Club cannot be done without walking on the road next to the cemetery. The mud on the road / parh (that goes in line with the old red ash path) is always muddy regardless of time of year or weather .

It is very sad to see the cemetery flooded.

The graves seem to be not waving but drowning !

Where did the Green Letch take water towards the Wansbeck or The Blyth ?

Hopefully there is a solution.

I cannot remember this ever being the situation in the past.

Ok Westlea was flooded because the land ,after the opencast was not put back correctly.

This still results in a lake forming between Red House and Westlea.

My memory was of a little stream to cross to get to the Old Original Red House Farm.

Now houses have been built in what I belieced was a fire break between the houses.

When the Coop were developing the Ridge Farm extensive work on drainage seemed to be being carried out!

With so very many more houses planned in the area it seems like a ticking time bomb to serious flooding of houses!

[Newbedders]

Where did the Green Letch take water towards the Wansbeck or The Blyth ?

It drained Ewart Hill northwards and eventually joined the Willow Burn at Choppington and then into the Sleekburn, and eventually into the Blyth.

[Maggie/915]

That makes sense Bayardm.

I wonder if culverts are blocked.

The other flooding issue is the old entrance in the hollow before the road rises to Westridge and the Ridge Farm area.

All weekend the water has been running out of the cemetery and into a drain on the road.

Again maybe a blocked culvert.

The new houses and buildings at the school may have had an effect.

Drainage is not effective either way and there are houses that could flood.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Maggie - images of the flooding, plus an extract from a westbedlington.org.uk docyument (no date) posted on the 'Bygone Bedlington' Facebbok site on the 6th Jan :-

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Maggie - images of the flooding, plus an extract from a westbedlington.org.uk docyument (no date) posted on the 'Bygone Bedlington' Facebbok site on the 6th Jan :-

[Maggie/915]

These are my pictures Eggy.

sorry

i cannot submit the pictures , they are using more than 2.21 mb 's it seems

[threegee]

Of course you can submit them Maggie.  How much space would you like?

Update:  You are now a "Contributor" which removes any upload limit.  PM me if you have any other problems.

[Maggie/915]

Here goes again

[Maggie/915]

I am still experiencing problems signing in .

The picture above is looking towards the school on the West Ridge .

The water here is running out of the cemetery onto the road and into a drain on the road.

the next picture is looking to wards Westlea and appears to be in line with the Green Letch maybe trying to head to Choppington.

[Maggie/915]

Oops the picture is not trying to get to the Green Letch, the water maybe!

[Maggie/915]

Here goes after signing in after I did not sign out.

My guess is that the higher ground of Nedderton Village and the equally high ground of Bedlington itself have caused the area to form tributaries that flow into the Green Letch and thence to the Sleekburn then to the Blyth.

These tributaries are essential given buildings at the school and new houses at The Chase (opposite the school) .

Add into the equation Hazelmere and the new houses that are planned and we have a problem.

There was a tributary at Westlea that I remember crossing to get to the old Red House farm .

That tributary caused flooding . It now appears to have been channeled underground .

However not very successfully .

This land was not put back successfully by the Coal Board after the opencast years and the run off collects to form a huge lake.

Before houses are affected it seems we should be finding the cause and maybe a solution. The weather is a factor but not the only one. The picture I am about to post ( hopefully ) is opposite the Netherton Club and is always 'clarty' to walk past you need to cross the road or walk in the road.

[toakley1965]

I have been looking at the problem of flooding in West Bedlington for the last year. These pictures show the problem areas, which have not been maintained by either the council or water board. If the new houses are given the go ahead the problems will only get worse. The drainage we have needs to be sorted the water doesn't even get into the channels and is not draining away. More houses, more water, more flooding!

[Maggie/915]

Just wondering where your

pictures were taken toakley1965

Great to know I am not alone in my concerns.

i think there has to be an answer.

Hopefully before houses are

affected.

[toakley1965]

Behind Red House and West Lea. And then the Green Letch.

[Maggie/915]

All very overgrown in that area behind Westlea and The Red House Farm.

If it was not for the risk of flooding it could be a wild life haven!

Certainly no stream flows in the direction of the Green Letch.

Around the Red Ash path there are three man hole covers in a small area.

I think at some stage someone has attempted to change the course of the stream.

The  problem now is all channels are blocked.

The water has to go somewhere.

Hence flooding in the cemetery .

[toakley1965]

There was water flowing behind the bus stop on the B1331 last week, when the cemetery was flooded. But there is a lot of work that needs doing to stop the flooding. I have spoken to Terry Johnstone about the problem several times, some of the drainage is the responsiblity of NCC, the rest is water board. They need to get together and get it sorted, but because it has been left for so long it will be an expensive project.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Well they seem OK with a £340 MILLION capital budget, might be nice to see some of that actually spent in Bedlington for a change!!!!!!!

[Maggie/915]

Interesting amount Malcolm.

Is that the amount received by the NCC or the Water Authority and is the amount per year.

I wonder who owns the Water Authority these days!

[Maggie/915]

Wildlife Haven between Westlea and Red House.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Its the amount NCC have agreed to spend on capital projects Maggie.......you know like sports centres etc.,, whilst at the same time cutting jobs and services as part of their cost savings budget.  Is it just me????????

[Maggie/915]

It makes no sense that they do not maintain our essential services .

Sadly the flooding problem is not going to go away.

Building huge numbers of houses will not help.

[Adam Hogg]

On 19/01/2016 at 20:45, Maggie/915 said:

I wonder who owns the Water Authority these days!

Some Company from Hong Kong last time I saw Maggie.

[Maggie/915]

I wonder if they are interested in dealing with the problems.

Hong  Kong is a long way from our town and maybe flooding is low on their list of priorities. 

[Spuggy]

 

“Northumbrian Water sounds nice and local but when you pay the bill you may be surprised to learn the profits leach away to the other side of the world.”

 

The next time you turn on the tap to fill the kettle, pull the chain or press the button to flush the toilet, get into your wellies to avoid the flooding.

Li Ka-shing, one of the richest men in the world, he has made more than £630m profit in the last two years.

Who is responsible for selling off the Regional water authorities in the first place?

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by Spuggy

[Maggie/915]

Some work seems to have been done to the area around the cemetery .

After an amount of rain it will become clear if anything has improved.

Fingers crossed .

In Bedlington we seem to be waiting patiently for so very many things to change for the better.