Flooding and Watercourses
Several bodies have powers and duties to deal with land
drainage matters, including the Council (as Land Drainage
Authority), the Environment Agency, and Staffordshire County
Council.
The Council's powers essentially cover the maintenance and
improvement of "ordinary" watercourses (i.e. non-main rivers), the
implementation of new land drainage works and flood defences, and
the serving of notice upon a landowner to remove an obstruction in
a watercourse where the flow is impeded.
Note: Main rivers come under the jurisdiction of the
Environment Agency.
In common with other landowners, the Council has riparian
responsibilities for stretches of ordinary watercourse passing
through its own land (e.g. parks and open spaces). This mainly
involves maintaining the unimpeded flow of water and repairing
erosion damage to banks.
Further details are contained in the Council's Policy Statement
on Flood Defence that was published in March 2001.
South Staffordshire Council provides the following service,
within it's area, in respect of flooding and land drainage:
(i) giving advice or
information to help deal with a variety of flooding problems.
(ii) investigating
land drainage complaints where there is a serious risk of multiple
property flooding.
(iii) providing
practical assistance where possible in a flooding situation. A
limited supply of sandbags is stored at the Council's depot in
Bilbrook and these can either be collected or delivered on a first
come, first served basis.
It should be noted that the Council does not provide an
out-of-hours flood response and householders in distress due to
property flooding are advised to contact the Staffordshire Fire and
Rescue Service for help in this type of situation.
If you think you may be at risk of flooding, you could find out
if your property has flooded in the past and what caused it; it is
important to consider:
(a) is it located below the level of the road and/or the
surrounding natural ground level
(b) does it lie within a flood plain
(c) is there a major sewer or a watercourse in the vicinity that
could cause a problem.
Small scale localised
flooding and general enquiries
Report a Flooding or Watercourse problem or make a general
enquiry by completing our online form
Flooding
Emergencies
If the flooding is the result of abnormal weather conditions,
such as 'flash flooding', contact the relevant agencies and
authorities as listed on our emergency planning pages (links
below).
Detailed information on the subject of flooding and how to deal
with it can be obtained on the Environment Agency's website (see
link below), or by contacting the Environment Agency's Floodline on
0845 988 1188.
There are no associated costs for reporting a Flooding or
Watercourse problem or for any technical advice provided.
Flooding/Watercourse Enquiries
Telephone: (01902) 696000