Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for the article on QLocal about the flooding in Burscough.

It is good to have your support in highlighting the problems here.

I appreciate the information you publish is provided by persons in authority who the public should trust. That which has been published appears ‘carefully worded’, and does not accurately represent the full facts.

If the drain had been ‘clear’ on 11th August, properties would still be threatened with flood because the field downstream (pictured below) was flooded and nothing from the drains on Crabtree Lane could flow because of it.

As I have said many times to the authorities: “it doesn’t matter how many times you clean the bath, if you don’t pull the plug out it won’t empty”.

The picture you see is likely to contain 'raw sewage'. Lancashire County Council admit this in their response to the issues highlighted in the Jacobs’ Report.

The Jacobs report states, in relation to flooding upstream at Hesketh Rd and Furnival Drive: 'The surface water sewer network would become surcharged during the 20% AEP event, with water also leaving the sewer network'.

I have asked; “Does this mean that sewage is allowed to spill onto footpaths and the road. Does this then make it's way down to Orrell Lane, and is it likely to contribute to the smell of sewage experienced during flooding events at Orrell Lane and Crabtree Lane”?

LCC reply; “Yes, under storm conditions when such spills are highly diluted by storm water“.

So from this you can assume that the fields in this area are regularly flooded with Raw Sewage. Would you feed the produce from these fields to your family?

There are two significant factors LCC have failed to mention; upstream development, which feeds into the failed system just mentioned, and the inadequate drainage beneath the railway.

Rosie Cooper has been asking Network Rail to address this problems for years, I have copies of several of her requests, but until now Network Rail have been unsympathetic. In January, I asked about drains which had fallen into disrepair, but they couldn’t find them despite the fact I have provided a map of them.

Councillor Adrian Owens (Our West Lancashire) has been a great help too; he has come in person to speak with all the residents and also asked Network Rail to open up a line of contact for discussions, which now appears to have happened after providing them with hard evidence that the drains they could not previously, find actually do exist.

My sincere thanks to Rosie and Adrian Owens for their help.

I hope in providing a ‘fair balance’ of the facts, that QLocal could give equal prominence to this other side of the story. While the authorities are trying to convince the public there is little to be concerned about, our homes remain under threat.

I am still cleaning and repairing after the flood of 11th August, and will be for some time.

Yours,

Bernie Webster.