Of course it is now autumn and the leaves are falling which is something to be expected. In neighbouring boroughs you can see council operatives sweeping up the leaves to avoid the drains from being blocked. Trees and indeed green spaces are maintained in neighbouring Surrey. Sadly in Croydon due to the Council's bankruptcy little is being done to maintain the trees and sweep the streets.
As a result in the heavy rain many branches and leaves are falling onto the pavement and roads and the increase in the build up of leaves are blocking the drains. One resident from Farm Fields contacted me today and said:
When there is rain and wind the problem increases – the leaves block the property drains and the road drains, the leaves and branches land on the roof and block the gutters. One neighbour had to buy a drain kit and unblock the drain in the road, when it rained another manhole cover was forced up and was swept down the road. The residents here are sweeping the pavements regularly, I am sweeping the pavement/drive daily in order to stop the drains from blocking and overflowing as they do if the leaves are not cleared
Large trees in the road are not maintained so when bad weather hits down come broken and damaged branches along with heavy leaf fall. Nothing is cleared and the problem is left to hard working tax payers of Croydon to solve. This reduction in service is causing havoc in the borough. I have written to officers to ask if anything is going to be done to prevent further destruction.
