Time for Barnet Council to sort out storm drain maintenance as Mill Hill Broadway grinds to a halt

 Today Mill Hill Broadway was brought to a standstill by a massive flood. As a long term resident, it's the worst I've seen since the night when Nottingham Forest first won the European cup and I had to take a detour around Flower Lane to get to my mate Dave Clancy's in Langley Park to watch it. 

Here's a few of the best tweets

pic.twitter.com/atTbpazUF8

— kim barrett (@kimbarrett) November 3, 2022

People having to queue to get into the station because there’s only one way in (there is another entrance the other side but it’s smaller).

Let’s not get started on the step free access…

We need leadership from our councils across the parties to sort this out. pic.twitter.com/F2dXx2UbcL

— Jon Klaff (@jon_klaff) November 3, 2022

After 12 hours of constant rain Mill Hill Broadway Station access is totally flooded in the undercroft, unless you want to get wet, access the station from the car park in Bunns Lane pic.twitter.com/MqpHzIUm7I

— Inside Mill Hill (@InsideMillHill) November 3, 2022

You may well be wondering why this happened, as we've had heavy rainfall before in that period. I had an inkling this would happen, as a couple of weeks ago there was a large puddle under thr bridge after moderate rainfaill. The reason is that Barnet Council have not been clearing debris properly from storm drain. A tweet showing these being cleaned,  from the the council cutting such maintenance is always a mistake and ends up costing far more in the long run. The council could have prevented this so anyone affected should be able to claim compensation. I sincerely hope that the council start to take proper maintenace of roads, highways, drains etc seriously. They should work with partners at TFL to ensure a regular maintenance schedule is drawn up and drain gulleys do not get silted up.

The Council released this press release today saying

The Council is currently responding to incidents of flooding across the borough following the recent heavy and persistent rainfall from Wednesday 2 November overnight and into the morning of Thursday 3 November 2022. Indications are that London experienced the equivalent of half a months’ worth of rainfall during this period.  

The Council has mobilised its highways and street scene services to clear fallen debris, empty flooded gullies and aid the removal of water from carriageways

In particular the Council is responding to two locations that have been the subject of significant flooding:

1. Mill Hill Mainline Station Underpass – Mill Hill Broadway through to Hale Lane and Bunns Lane, this location is subject to standing water on the carriageway under the mainline. The Council has mobilised its emergency response drainage teams to clear the area, support stranded motorists and reopen the carriageway as soon as possible. The location is currently under police traffic control.
2. A41 at Brent Cross – The Council are supporting colleagues in TFL regarding the flooding in this location and will be providing all assistance necessary to enable TfL to effectively manage the situation.  

In addition, and more generally the Council are responding to the notification of blocked gullies from residents and conducting an inspection of all of our water-based assets to ensure that they remain clear during this period of heavy and persistent rainfall.

If residents are aware of any locations subject to flooding please use the councils online reporting function to ensure that the enquiry is effectively tracked and managed: https://account.barnet.gov.uk/publicaccesslive/selfservice/citizenportal/login.htm

As you can clearly see, they have admitted that maintenance has been neglected. The new administration needs to pull its finger out and get on top of this.