State of drains on Broad Land, Essington
Dear Cllr Beryl Tabuck & Cllr Mavis North,
I refer to the petition, signed by local residents regarding the state of the drains in the locality of Broad Lane / Bursnip Road, Essington. I can advise you that receipt of the petition will be reported to Cllr Helen Fisher, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport.
The Community Infrastructure Liaison Manger Mark Keeling has advised that our drainage maintenance team visited Essington earlier this year in addition to adhoc visits on High Hill and more recently on Hobnock & Bognop Road.
In urban areas highway gullies often work together as a network to drain the highway. Depending on the gradient of the road and number of surrounding gullies the network will work effectively for the majority of the time even if some of the gullies have individually become blocked. Unless standing-water is occurring on a regular basis and presenting a particular risk to road users, in the majority of cases it is most logical for reported blocked gullies to simply be emptied as part of the routine gully cleansing programme.
Staffordshire County Council has adopted a 3 year gully program based on asset data collected in recent years.
The schedule of routine cleanses is based on silt level readings and road classification.
Urban highway gullies on A and B class routes generally have higher silt levels and will be cleansed annually. Rural C class and unclassified routes (D and U) typically have lower silt levels and will be cleansed every two years.
Urban highway gullies on C class and unclassified routes (D and U roads) will be cleansed every 3 years.
As Broad Lane and Bursnip Road Essington fall within the A&B road category they will be maintained annually.
According to our program both Broad Lane and Bursnips Road are due for cleansing late January early February 2019.
The County Council provides a wide range of services, with a focus on the vulnerable members of society: the frail elderly, vulnerable children and those not as fortunate as ourselves, all of which takes up the major part of the Council’s budget.
In terms of highway maintenance: of the £44 million annual highways and transport budget (9% of the County Council’s total budget), around 40% is required to support concessionary travel and home-to-school transport. Of the remaining £26m, almost half is needed each year to finance a 25-year street lighting PFI contract (2004 – 2029). This includes replacing age-expired and dangerous lighting columns; upgrading to energy efficient LED technology; and paying the annual electrical bill for more than 100,000 lighting columns, lit road signs, traffic signals and other roadside equipment. The remaining £14m, which equates to around £3.30/month for an average Staffordshire household, is used to manage and maintain Staffordshire’s significant highway network. With a highway network replacement value of around £7.5 billion, this is a challenging task that includes looking after:
- 4,500 km of footways and cycleways
- 200 km of retaining walls
- 1,200 bridges and culverts
- An unquantified length of highway drainage systems
- Around 2.5 million sq. meters of grass verges
- Winter gritting operations
- A 24-hr emergency response
Should you require further information regarding your petition please contact Mark Keeling on 01785 854676.
Yours sincerely
Amanda Felton
Executive Support Officer