Views from Rew Bridge (between Martinstown & Steepleton) looking west - before and after clearing.
Abbas : Highways England have given a written undertaking (email 29th September) that they will clear the watercourse through the Abbas village area. All their highway drainages runs into the watercourse.
October 2021 : There was quite substantial flooding of the service station / garage forecourt in Abbas on 31st October 2021. A lot of mud and run off including many beet storks / roots appeared to come from Manor Farm. The Parish Council have asked Dorset Council's Flood Management Team to investigate fully..
It appears that heavy rainfall overnight caused a build up of water in the fields in the valley north of Manor Farm. By early Sunday morning this had gathered a lot of mud and also numerous maize storks / roots all of which soon found its way down and out on to the A35. It is thought that the maize debris soon entangled and block drains and road gulleys causing the garage forecourt and surrounding area to be flooded to a depth of over a foot (300mm). The police had to shut the A35 through Abbas.
Dorset Council's Highway Team were engaged by Highways England and had the area cleared and the A35 open again by the afternoon. Our thanks goes to this team. Fortunately, the stream down through Steepleton had been cleared a couple of weeks before and was able to generally cope with the volume of water with a few minor floods on the road which soon receded. By Tuesday, the stream was back to its normal levels. The stream through Abbas was not really affected and levels remained low apart from the immediate area of the flood.
The Parish Council have taken the following action :
a) Requested that Dorset Council's Flood Management team carry out an urgent investigation of the causes and ensure that steps are taken to prevent a repeat of this incident. They have also been asked to look at the flood prevention proposals recently revised for the 33 house development on the Manor Farm site.
b) Highways England (who manage the A35) have been requested to urgently check and clear all their drains and road gulleys in addition to clearing the stream through Abbas village which they had already given a written undertaking to carry out.
They have also been asked to clear the highway drain channel that backs the houses in Steepleton Water. This is totally blocked and a lot of mud and water found its way into the back yards of these houses. This channel does not appear to be "fit for purpose" and they have been asked to urgently review and improve this.
Our local MP Chris Loader has offered assistance in chasing progress of the above requests.