FLOODING IN GREAT AYTON

FLOODING IN GREAT AYTON – A Report by COUNCILLOR JOHN FLETCHER

Last Autumn the village suffered from flooding, especially on the evening of Thursday November 1st. As most of us will remember, the day was very wet and when we thought it couldn’t get worse – it did. During the early evening the rain falling in the area was exceptional and it was soon apparent that flooding was going to occur.

The River Leven was in full spate and rising by the minute, threatening to burst its banks at Easby, the High Street in Ayton, the Low Green and at Stokesley. Calls for sand bags were soon being made and Hambleton District Council moved quickly into emergency mode. As well as the River rising it was apparent that water pouring off fields, gardens and roads in the village was taxing the drainage systems in Roseberry Avenue, Roseberry Cresent and Angrove Close.

By 9.00pm the River Leven was in full flood and houses were being inundated in the High Street and Leven Side. Water was pouring through gardens and garages in Angrove Close, Roseberry Avenue and at the bottom end of Roseberry Crescent. In Little Ayton, riverside homes were flooded – Clifford and Phyllis Petch watched helplessly as brown evil-smelling water swirled into their farmhouse. Water crept relentlessly across lawns towards houses in Low Easby. The Low Green was a vast fast -flowing mass of water.

High Street was well over 2 feet deep and Station Road, from the Wimpey development towards the station, a torrent of water indistinguishable from a river. Park Rise behind the High Green was a similar scene of devastation. Across the District similar scenes were being witnessed as Hambleton Council struggled to deliver the much-needed sandbags from the Northallerton Depot. Across the County emergency services were mobilised to assist in the growing crisis. The water continued to rise until almost midnight when the rain eased off. The rapid fall in the level of the River was at the time thought to be related to operation of Sluice Gates at Stokesley. Indeed, severe flooding around Stokesley raised questions about the actions of the Environment Agency.

At a meeting held in Stokesley the Agency explained to a packed assembly that the Sluice Gates at Stokesley were shut to divert water along the relief channel into the Eller Beck, then back into the Leven. The water is prevented from flowing “wrong way” into Stokesley by flap valves which are kept shut by the rising water from Eller Beck. The relief channel and Eller Beck flooded into nearby houses, fields and the Industrial Estate. Stokesley itself was threatened by rainwater running off roads into the Leven, which rose relentlessly, to reach levels which were the highest recorded since the relief scheme was built. The gradient of the riverbed between Ayton and Stokesley is such that whatever happens at Stokesley is not going to effect the level of the River in Ayton.

What does affect the level of the River here, however, is the very short distance between the source of the Leven, above Kildale, and Ayton. A deluge on Warren Moor above Kildale quickly shows on the Agency's Level Gauge at Easby and a passing peak reaches Stokesley only 1½ hours later via Ayton!

On the night of Thursday November 1st the Environment Agency’s Level Gauges at Low Easby, Ayton and Stokesley peaked SIMULTANEOUSLY, such was the amount of rain falling on fields and subsequently decanting into the River. “This was an exceptional event,” said the Environment Agency. The County Council Divisional Engineer, Mike Roberts, also at the meeting, confirmed that the exceptional rain meant that the road drains couldn’t cope, especially when debris flowing off the fields, gardens and roads choked the gullies and gutters. He did, however, agree to make arrangements to clear any gullies which were thought to be blocked.

The Agency, the meeting was told, is responsible for the main Rivers but only within certain limits. For example, the River Leven above the waterfall in Great Ayton, and the watercourses which caused the flooding in Angrove, were not the Agency’s responsibility.

The roles and responsibilities of various bodies with an interest in watercourses – Councils, landowners, Drainage Boards and the like – obviously need to be clarified by the Government. It was also clear that the Environment Agency is grossly under-funded to provide essential maintenance and capital works to the water courses it is currently responsible for – despite a recent increase in funds provided by North Yorkshire County Council. An added complication is the role of Northumbrian Water within the village as sewage and storm water (“wastewater”) joined forces to wreak havoc, especially in the “Roseberries”.

If you want to know if your house is at risk, maps marked up by the Environment Agency can be viewed on the Agency’s web site: www.environment-Agency.gov.uk or at the District Council offices. Many Houses in Ayton are at risk from flooding from the Leven; there are many more in Stokesley. The Agency says that almost 5m people in 2m homes and businesses are at risk from flooding nationwide. (Click on the floodline & type in your post code to see if you are at risk)

Two new emergency sandbag storage areas have been provided in the village by Hambleton District Council – near to the Low Green and at Little Ayton. The sandbags will be issued in the event of any future emergency arising from flooding in the village. JF