(The image above shows a house in Bourne Park Close that flooded in October).
Kenley has several flooding hotspots, aided by its typology, the flow of the river Bourne right through the valley and its chalky geology.
Cllr Kolade and I have been working with Croydon’s drainage and flood management officer over the past year to discuss what measures can be taken to help alleviate the problem in the following sites:
- Junction of Kenley Lane with Welcomes Road and Valley Road
- Purcell Close
- Bourne Park Close
- Little Roke Avenue
- Lower Road
1. Junction of Kenley Lane with Welcomes Road and Valley Road
Whilst the works that took place at the beginning of the year made some impact on the ongoing flooding of this area, they didn’t stop the floods which has been very disappointing to see. Several interventions are taking place to relive the floods including:
- Including the new flood relief drains into the street cleaning schedule so that they are regularly swept of debris
- After discussions with the Church Road Committee, the covers of the 2 gullies at the junction of Church Road with Valley Road will be released/replaced and arrangements made for the gullies to be cleaned to help capture rainwater before flowing onto Valley Road
- On 6th April, the council’s contractor cleaned/jetted the gullies and catchpits in the area that floods outside of Sycamores. However, there was one gully, that was backfilling and a further CCTV investigation took place on 4th May. The CCTV survey indicates the flooding is caused by hydraulic issues with the pipes works which causes rainwater to drain slowly and further investigations are taking pace around how the drainage systems can be improved. This is a priority in the council’s flood alleviation programme and it is anticipated that a solution will be implemented soon. In the meantime to minimise the flood risk, the soakaways are being cleaned more frequently.
- Investigations are ongoing on the capacity and capability of the ‘balancing pond’ between Kenley Lane, the railway and Purcell Close.
I know that the flooding here is very frustrating and distressing to residents and roads users, and I continue to work closely with the council to get these works scheduled as soon as possible.
Flooding at Kenley Lane
2. Purcell Close
I first became aware of the regular flooding at Purcell Close during the massive water mains burst in April 2023. During the burst, I visited residents in nearby roads to see how badly they were affected. Residents in Purcell Close told me that the impact of the water mains burst was particularly bad, but they experienced regularly flooding in heavy rain.
Over the last few months, I have been working with the council, residents and the housing association that owns Purcell Close to see what measures can be installed to protect residents and their property from these floods. All parties have been very cooperative in trying to ascertain why the area floods so often, and what the existing drainage infrastructure is.
A thorough investigation of the drainage assets on Station Road and Purcell Close will be carried out at the end of November, together with a review of the capacity of the ‘balancing pond’, which acts as a drainage mechanism from the railway and Kenley Lane and is meant to hold and slowly disperse the storm water run-off from Kenley Lane and the railway into the ground, This is a complex situation, regarding co-operation between the housing association, the council, Network Rail and Sutton and East Surrey Water and has a wide impact on flooding locally.
Balancing pond between Purcell Close, the railway line and Kenley Lane.
Flood water at Purcell Close.
3. Bourne Park Close
Residents at the culvert end of Bourne Park Close are very sadly used to their front gardens flooding when the Bourne rises. Usually, houses don’t get flooded, but two weeks ago, one poor resident had to rip up her floorboards after the flood breached her front door.
One of the main reasons for the floods is that the trash screen that stops rubbish from flowing into the culvert get blocked. These are on a regular maintenance schedule, but autumn and heavy rain are hardy adversaries! Following an intervention from Croydon’s Mayor Jason Perry, an emergency clear-up of the culvert took place and for now the immediate danger of flooding has receded. All of the trash screen from Bourne Park Close through to Tesco in Purley have now been cleaned.
The situation here is difficult, the culvert blocks up due to the debris and rubbish that flows through the back of gardens and maintenance of the Bourne under Riparian Law is really the responsibility of bordering landowners. I will continue to work with the council to see if any longer-term measures can be implemented to protect the residents of Bourne Park Close.
The flow of the Bourne topping over the culvert at Bourne Park Close.
Emergency dig out of the Bourne Park Close culvert
4. Little Roke Avenue
The bottom of Little Roke Avenue (Purley end) floods regularly in heavy rain. Following contact from concerned residents, I requested that the drainage assets be cleaned and inspected. A CCTV inspection of the drainage infrastructure has been completed and it was found that the road only had a single soakaway, taking the rainwater from all of the road gullies. As a result, the council is proposing to install new soakaways, gullies, and upgrade a number of the existing gullies. However, due to funding pressures, this is unlikely to commence util 2025/26. In the meantime, the existing soakaway will be cleaned more regularly to minimise flood risk Needless to say, I will continue to work with the council on when these works will take place.
Flooding at Little Roke Avenue
5. Lower Road
The part of Lower Road where it meets the cut through to Little Roke Avenue also regularly floods, with water building up the road and towards front door.
The council’s contractors undertook an assessment earlier this week and have scheduled works for next week.
Flooding in Lower Road.
