Staines Moor sees worst floods for six years

Dec 4 2009 By Mark Goode

Mike Merryman outside his farm.

Staines Moor has been swamped with the worst floods for six years, trapping animals and water logging gardens and allotments.

Residents living near the moor started seeing the water rise on Monday but by Thursday (December 3) it was 12 inches deep in places and flooding gardens in Gloucester Drive.

The Moor is a natural floodplain, but residents are concerned the worst is yet to come due to possible developments on the moor and a winter of heavy rains.

Bob Goble, of Vicarage Road, who has been taking pictures of the moor for 20 years, said: "I went for a walk with my dog at about 7.30am on Wednesday and noticed how the water level had started to come up, and two hours later it had come up two inches more. The last time it flooded like this was in January 2003, which caused lots of weeds like thistles to grow afterwards."

The problem was believed to be down to heavy rains in the area causing the Wraysbury River, which runs through the moor, to overflow.

The Environment Agency sent workers to a flood relief sluice on the Wraysbury River, which was broken, and caused it to flood a farmers land.

The automated gate is designed to let flood water from the river to overflow into a drain which leads past the house of horse breeders Mike and Wendy Merryman, but after opening it would not close, causing the drain to burst its banks and affect the Merryman's livestock.

Mr Merryman, 67, owns one of only two farms in Staines and has breeding horses for 30 years. He said: "The drain normally floods once a year, but this year it could be worse because of the rain. We used to breed cattle, but the flooding destroyed that, and if it gets worse it might affect our horses."

Mr Merryman said he believes there is no answer, as when the sluice is open it floods his land, but when closed it floods the surrounding area and puts excessive water into the River Colne.

He believes the problem is due to people concreting gardens and having large numbers of cars, which creates less space for the flood waters to go.

Earl Gray, who is chairman of the Preservation of Staines Moor, agreed, adding that Airtrack, which may be built over the moor as a train line from London Waterloo to Heathrow's terminal five, could worsen the problem.

He said: "BAA say Airtrack is going to be raised off the ground, but if it is built on stilts it still means there will be less places for the water to go."

The flooding also caused an allotment site in Moor Lane to become waterlogged, and grazing animals to become trapped on the moor.

A spokeswoman for Spelthorne Council said: "We are aware that the Environment Agency has put into operation the flood relief scheme for the Wraysbury River in Staines.

"This scheme is designed to alleviate flooding to properties along Moor Lane. We are aware of the flooding at the Moor Lane allotments however it would be impractical to try to protect them from flooding given that they are located directly adjacent to the Wraysbury River.

"The Environment Agency has not issued any flood warnings for Spelthorne, but there are a significant number of properties on the floodplain in the borough, and we would remind residents to be flood aware."

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said the they were aware of the broken sluice, and were doing their best to fix it.