With winter rains coming, and climate change adding to the risk of flash flooding, your Green Councillors are pushing to get all blocked road gullies in Battenhall and St Peter’s cleared.

I recently attended a council meeting where I learnt that there are 117,000 street gullies across the county and that the council has three dedicated lorries that regularly clean all the gullies according to a rota. Some gullies need to be done annually others can safely be cleaned every four years.

Before cleaning operatives measure how full the gulley is. They can then adjust the cleaning frequency according to how full the gulley had become. Ie if the gulley is currently cleaned every two years and it’s full they may increase the inspection frequency to annual checks but if the gulley is nearly empty the inspection frequency can be extended.

Interesting point that’s pretty obvious from the picture below is that the outlet of the trap is not at the bottom but about 1/2 way up the chamber so that debris can collect harmlessly in the trap without it blocking the outlet pipe – how intriguing!

If we spot spot a blocked trap when out and about, we report it on-line. Its easy, uses a map for location and you can add a photo.  Please help us clear the gullies by reporting blockages here:

https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/council-services/travel-and-highways/report-road-or-path-issue