Should I feel guilty?

[Pie Eater]

Last weekend when I was on my morning walk I noticed that the canal at the Leeds and Liverpool Leigh branch was full to the brim.

 

I thought nothing of it and continued with my walk but was shocked the following day when I found out the some pensioners bungalows had flooded when the canal had overflowed in the middle of the night.

 

Vandals had opened a number of paddles on the Wigan flight causing the junction pound to overflow over the towpath.

 

This morning the canal was about 2 inches off overflowing again so I rang the CaRT emergency number and CaRT Wigan rang me back to say that someone was on their way to investigate.

 

I just hope that CaRT were in time to stop any more flooding and that the Police manage to catch the culprits.

 

Steve

[Dave Payne]

Vandals should feel guilty, the sh*t's!

 

Sometimes things don't come to the front of your mind and you dismiss it, don't feel guilty, but a lesson that if you spot anything not right on the cut it's worth a quick call to CRT.

[haza]

no dont. i dont surpose you where the only one to notice this .dont feel guilty

[Martin Megson]

I wouldn't have thought to report it as I find that many pounds are high in late Autumn/Winter due to the combination of rainfall and leaves blocking bywashes. Very sad for the homeowners concerned but as others have said the vandals are to blame not you.

[Pie Eater]

I wouldn't have thought to report it as I find that many pounds are high in late Autumn/Winter due to the combination of rainfall and leaves blocking bywashes. Very sad for the homeowners concerned but as others have said the vandals are to blame not you.

 

I wouldn't have thought to report it as I find that many pounds are high in late Autumn/Winter due to the combination of rainfall and leaves blocking bywashes. Very sad for the homeowners concerned but as others have said the vandals are to blame not you.

 

The problem with this pound is that there is no bywash at Poolstock no 1 lock.

 

Steve

[MoominPapa]

The problem with this pound is that there is no bywash at Poolstock no 1 lock.

 

Steve

 

I guess because the L&L didn't want to give water away to the Bridgewater?

 

Cheers,

 

MP.

[Horace42]

A separate issue from the guilt/concern of Pie Eater is the possible aspect of the bungalows becoming flooded.

 

Like many posts on this forum, we jump in with little facts, but being pensioners bungalows hints at accommodation provided by local authorities LA - and if so puts an onus on them to take appropriate action to prevent flood risk - they make a big issue of it in their planning departments by calling for a full Flood Risk Assessment FRA - in fact it is a national Government requirement now - so they can hardly deny the foreseeable risk of flooding.

 

At the very least, the occupiers should have been made aware of the risk - if it was not obvious from the start when they moved in.

 

And if they are not LA bungalows, and privately owned, the flood risk is a major point in any insurance policy - which suggests the owners should have kept an eye on the situation.

 

So apart from self inflicted guilt of not realising the extent, don't feel responsible for the consequences.

 

PS: Anyone interested in a detailed FRA see the company - Homecheck.co.uk -the one I used for my house - type in your post code and you get basic details - you have to pay for a certified copy - the insurance company will want to see it if you want to get a reduced premium.

 

Back to the LA -and the importance they attach to flooding - I had to produce one for a planning application to build in my land when it was obvious there was no risk whatsoever because my house is 3m above canal level.

 

Although strictly speaking there was a foreseeable risk from global warming if the ice caps of the Arctic and Antarctic melt as well as the ice caps of Columbian Icefields.

 

Even then my house would be above the flood line - but Polesworth would become a seaside town. I will probably give up my narrowboat.

 

If you know the post code of your mooring - type it in Homecheck above for a bit of fun - to see it your mooring ropes are long enough.

[Mike Todd]

A separate issue from the guilt/concern of Pie Eater is the possible aspect of the bungalows becoming flooded.

 

Like many posts on this forum, we jump in with little facts, but being pensioners bungalows hints at accommodation provided by local authorities LA - and if so puts an onus on them to take appropriate action to prevent flood risk - they make a big issue of it in their planning departments by calling for a full Flood Risk Assessment FRA - in fact it is a national Government requirement now - so they can hardly deny the foreseeable risk of flooding.

 

At the very least, the occupiers should have been made aware of the risk - if it was not obvious from the start when they moved in.

 

And if they are not LA bungalows, and privately owned, the flood risk is a major point in any insurance policy - which suggests the owners should have kept an eye on the situation.

 

So apart from self inflicted guilt of not realising the extent, don't feel responsible for the consequences.

 

PS: Anyone interested in a detailed FRA see the company - Homecheck.co.uk -the one I used for my house - type in your post code and you get basic details - you have to pay for a certified copy - the insurance company will want to see it if you want to get a reduced premium.

 

Back to the LA -and the importance they attach to flooding - I had to produce one for a planning application to build in my land when it was obvious there was no risk whatsoever because my house is 3m above canal level.

 

Although strictly speaking there was a foreseeable risk from global warming if the ice caps of the Arctic and Antarctic melt as well as the ice caps of Columbian Icefields.

 

Even then my house would be above the flood line - but Polesworth would become a seaside town. I will probably give up my narrowboat.

 

If you know the post code of your mooring - type it in Homecheck above for a bit of fun - to see it your mooring ropes are long enough.

Not sure about the quality of their data. It states that our house is a flood risk as it is within 500m of a possible flood risk area. However it fails to report also that we are around 65m above the river level and that most of the west of England would be under water before it lapped at our doorstep. Also, since we are almost at the top of a hill, the danger of flood water coming downhill is equally unanticipated!

[cuthound]

Not sure about the quality of their data. It states that our house is a flood risk as it is within 500m of a possible flood risk area. However it fails to report also that we are around 65m above the river level and that most of the west of England would be under water before it lapped at our doorstep. Also, since we are almost at the top of a hill, the danger of flood water coming downhill is equally unanticipated!

This was the situation were we used to live.

 

It didn't stop several insurance companies from either refusing to quote or give ridiculously high quotes though

 

To a lesser degree it applies to where we live now, some insurance companies refuse to quote because the canal is within 5 metres of our house, even though the canal acts as local drainage, courtesy of a run off weir on our level.