The war over who should sort out a roundabout plagued by flooding

A roundabout often left underwater is at the centre of a long-running spat. The roundabout on Mainway East in Alkrington, Middleton was almost submerged when Storm Bert hammer the region last weekend.

The water was around 3ft deep in some places, according to ward councillor Dylan Williams. Some fear future storms could cause much bigger problems.

The culvert next to the road collapsed a few years ago, forming a sinkhole. It means water cannot flow away from the road as easily.

Councillor Williams said that whenever there is a torrential downpour, vehicles are often left stranded. He says he fears the issue could soon impact homes.

The East Middleton councillor says the problem hasn’t been solved because Rochdale Council and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) are locked in a battle over who should pay for the sinkhole to be repaired.

The council says the sinkhole is on the social housing provider’s land, so it is RBH’s responsibilty. RBH bosses say it’s a highways issue, so it’s up to the council.

The work will cost an estimated £150,000. “Locals are extremely angry about this,” Councillor Williams said. “Residents living in Alkrington are suffering.

“I am concerned there are three more storms on the way and it will flood again and again and again. It’s crazy, they just need to resolve their issues. This can’t go on.

“It’s causing damage to the pavements, possibly to the homes as well if the water gets up there. If the rain continued over the weekend it could’ve flooded the houses.”

 

 

Councillor Williams was out for hours over the weekend trying to clear the water from the road. He finally managed to get the water flowing after almost 10 hours of graft.

Siobhan McCoy, director of property services at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, said: “RBH has taken legal advice on this matter and, although the damaged culvert is on our land, our understanding is that it was constructed to facilitate the adjacent roundabout and drain the highway. Therefore any repairs on it are the responsibility of the council.

“The repairs needed are costly and we have to be sure that we are using our tenants’ rent on things that are our legal responsibility.

“We are keen to keep working with the council to resolve this, and have also offered to pay the costs of independent expert counsel to determine where the responsibility lies.”

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said: “We appreciate the problems this is causing but we do not believe this to be the council’s responsibility and have made this clear to the landowner. This is subject to ongoing discussions, which we hope will be resolved as quickly as possible.”

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter