A BASINGSTOKE resident has been left frustrated at the lack of action to solve flooding problems outside his home.
Marcin Glapinski moved into his home, in Guernsey Close, Popley, three years ago and since then has experienced flooding outside his and his neighbour’s properties.
Marcin’s house is at the end of a row of properties. The footpath and ground slopes down to the front of his home, meaning that when it rains water pools at the front of the property before working its way through the front garden, and puddling at the brickwork at the front of the home.
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The 39-year-old said: "The ground here is so uneven and all sloping massively towards mine and my neighbour’s house, so any time we get heavy rain, which seems to be more and more constant these days, it ends up pooling down the path and flooding at the brickwork at the front of my house.
"The ground here is clay so the water doesn't drain through, which is probably why there's so much of it on the surface.”
Marcin contacted Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in an attempt to try and rectify the issue but was put in contact with Hampshire County Council as footpaths are the responsibility of the county authority.
The warehouse manager has emailed the county council numerous times to try and rectify the flooding issue, but to no avail, with the authority only responding once to say the issue would be looked into, although Marcin was given no time frame as to when that will happen.
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He continued: "I asked if they could even just clear the edge of the footpaths to give the water a route past my house and towards the green space next door, but was told this wouldn't work so I went out there myself and cleared a bit, which has helped the issue.
"All it would need is a little drain to help direct the surface water away from the houses. I'm not asking for much but want action before the constant damp becomes an issue."
A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: "We can confirm that we will be looking into the flooding issue at Guernsey Close.
"In the meantime, it is important to note that funding for flood mitigation work is allocated according to the number of properties that are directly impacted by flooding, inside homes and not just outside, or where roads carrying high levels of traffic at high speeds are involved.
"Many locations across Hampshire have experienced localised flooding issues following periods of very heavy rainfall combined with higher-than-normal ground water levels. There is guidance on our web pages explaining what happens when flooding is reported to us and when we are able to assist.
“Over the past 10 years, we have invested over £22 million in the construction of flood and water management schemes to protect areas that are most at risk of flooding and we are currently working on several flood alleviation schemes.
"We are committed to working with key partners, including the Environment Agency and the water companies, to reduce flood risk and increase community resilience across Hampshire.”
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