FLASH flooding earlier this week in a Bradford community caused thousands of pounds of damage to homes and businesses of fed-up residents, but the Council has said gullies in the area are regularly cleaned.
A number of roads in a 'high-risk' area of Lidget Green and Great Horton were overwhelmed by flash flooding on Sunday afternoon, covering streets and inundating homes and businesses with floodwaters.
Mohammed Ilyas, a resident of Horton Grange Road, said: "The rain came so fast. It backfired from the drains and came into the houses.
"I have a bathroom, kitchen and diner downstairs and all of that got flooded. Everything is ruined.
"I've been here 20 years and I don't want to move from this area because I've spent a lot of money on this house.
"Everybody is really fed up with the flooding in this area.
"The gullies get blocked and the drains get covered.
"It needs to be highlighted so the council can do something."
Saqib Fiaz, owner and manager of Horton Grange Pharmacies on Horton Grange Road, said: "I've never seen it this bad. It was above knee-high in my cellar and once the water goes away you get mud everywhere.
"I've lost about £5,000 to £10,000 in stock. Medicines are not cheap to replace."
"It's such a problem that this area can't deal with flash flooding.
"My business has been here just over 10 years and it's been an ongoing issue for many years.
"There have been four or five occasions where it's flooded downstairs, but it was a much bigger hit this time. Something needs to be done.
"It's unfortunate the residents bear the brunt of the flooding.
Tahir Zeb, a taxi driver who captured footage of the flash flooding, said: "So many houses and businesses were affected. Local residents are chasing the council to do something. A lot of these gullies were completely blocked."
A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “We operate a gully cleaning schedule which means gullies on major routes are cleaned annually. Gullies on residential and minor estate highways are cleaned every three years on routine maintenance visits.
“However, gullies in high-risk areas are cleaned more frequently. This is the case for this location. The gullies on Horton Grange Road were all cleaned out and surveyed on January 18, March 2 and March 21, while the gullies on Spencer Road (including the pedestrianised area) were cleaned out by hand on November 10, 2022.
“In addition to the normal cleaning schedule, we have also cleaned and surveyed 23 gullies on Woodhead Road, 17 gullies on St Margarets Road and 22 on Horton Park Avenue between January 25 and April 19.
“But while every effort is made to keep gullies clear, the highway will still become overwhelmed in incidents of heavy rain and flash flooding, something which cannot be prevented by cleared gullies.
“This area has also been identified in a national surface water map as having a higher risk of surface water flooding and we are aware that work needs to be done to reduce that risk.
“We are working with local stakeholders to investigate the causes of flooding and potential solutions. These investigations have included surveys of the gully network and surrounding drainage infrastructure.
“From this, we have found that the historic drainage network does not have the capacity to operate effectively during periods of high rainfall.
“As a council, we have a remit to investigate sources of flooding and to identify viable flood risk alleviation projects. This is explained in our Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.
“We have also developed the Bradford Flood Programme Board in collaboration with the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water. The Board’s aims to identify and deliver cost-efficient solutions for communities at risk of flooding within the district.
“A substantial portion of funding available for the delivery of flood alleviation schemes comes from DEFRAs Flood Defence Grant in Aid (FDGiA).
“We will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to devise and deliver a viable scheme using FDGiA funding and seek funding from partners, if necessary, to reduce the risk of surface water flooding to the Horton Grange area.”
“Blocked gullies can be reported by calling 01274 431000 or using the following link: bradford.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/report-issues/report-blocked-gullies-and-drains/
“Sometimes we are unable to clean gullies on a highway due to the amount of parked vehicles or the narrow width of the highway. We can arrange a Day of Action with internal departments and ward councillors.
“This involves working with residents and community groups working to clean gullies. Since 2021, we have held 332 gully cleansing days of action and a further 48 days are scheduled for 2023.”
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: "We know that this area does flood, so we've been proactively working there the past few months, making sure the sewers and running at full capacity and looking at anything that would cause it to back up.
"The problem is there is only so much water that can get into the system at one time.
"We'll also be looking at longer-term solutions and carrying out investigations as a matter of course."
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