On Tuesday I attended the Parish Council meeting where a separate meeting had been arranged at my request with one of the council flooding officers to go through all the things being done by the council following my intervention after the recent flooding. a number of residents attended as well as parish councillors.

The main culvert near to the White tun is to be rebuilt significantly larger than before, and a number of collapsed drains are being repaired as well. I would urge all residents to check the drains outside their homes regularly and report any blockages.

A much larger piece of work is required to make the banking along Witton Burn stable, and it is estimated that this could cost over £50,000 and perhaps £100,000. I have written to the portfolio holder and director of neighbourhood services to urge them to take this matter seriously and find a way of getting this work carried out sooner rather than later as it is apparent that this work could take two years or more to be done. Such delays would be unacceptable, although given the cost, clearly there is a process to be followed through on this. What is clear is that damage from the flooding will have run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The replacement of the existing culvert is expected to take place in the coming months and all told several tens of thousands of pounds will have already been spent on repair works by the start of next year after my and council officers intervention.

Maintenance failures both in Witton Gilbert and elsewhere must be addressed by the council. It is clear that there are insufficient inspections of areas and gully cleaning has been reduced to being responsive rather than proactive, which will clearly have contributed to some flooding problems in the county. I have made officers aware of this too and hopefully we will see far more proactive responses in the future.

If you see any highways, drainage or other issues call the Highways Action Line on 0191 370 6000 or email hal@durham.gov.uk.