27/09/10 flood project nears completion

£100,000 flood project nears completion… but residents remain sceptical

RELIEF is finally in sight for residents of a Lincolnshire village who have been plagued by floods.

The £100,000 flood prevention project at Fiskerton, which will see two holding ponds in place is almost complete.

According to WLDC the scheme “ which was funded by Defra and other organisations in the county “ is already functional and work is expected to be finished by mid-October.

It has come as welcome news to Rachel and Steve Rousseau whose village business, Wishing Well Stores, has been badly affected by flood water.

But Mrs Rousseau remains sceptical and says the village needs to see it working.

Mrs Rousseau, of Ferry Road, Fiskerton said: “Providing the holding ponds hold the water it is a good thing, because if they don’t and the water all comes at once, we will be in a worse situation than we were, so it’s only going to be time that tells.”

The couple have had to combat knee-deep water at their business in 2007, while in 2008 they were again battling the elements as water came up level with the front door of the shop.

In March, Mr Rousseau found himself trying to unblock a drain in Ferry Road to prevent their property being flooded.

Now all hope is being pinned on the ponds.

One has been dug just past Fiskerton Primary School and the second goes past Corn Close through to Ferry Road.

They are capable of holding 5,500 cubic metres of water.

They will slow down the rate surface water enters the village drainage system to stop the drains being overloaded by surges.

The flow is diverted under the village into existing water courses.

Leader of the district council, Burt Keimach, said: “It is a significant milestone, as this is the largest flood prevention scheme that the council has been involved in since the major floods in 2007.”

The Fiskerton project is one of three flood mitigation schemes the council won Defra grant funding for.

David Hickman, assistant director of sustainable communities at Lincolnshire county Council said: “Lincolnshire is regarded nationally as a leader in its approach to flood risk management.”

Fiona Taylor, resident in nearby Langworth, which has similarly suffered the effects of flooding, said while the scheme was good for Fiskerton, it would be of no benefit to Langworth.

She said: “Because there’s only about ten properties in the village that were affected, they forget about us.

“This won’t help us as we were affected by Sudbrooke Beck.

“We are still families down here and people lost properties but for some reason we are expendable.”

West Lindsey District Council told the Echo that it is waiting for detailed information on water flows in Langworth to ascertain what needs to be done.

Talks are to be held with Langworth Parish Council.