Catesby dev

Waterside

Apartments

Griffin Lane

Development

This Aerial view shows the southern perimeter of Dickens Heath

Main

Balancing

Ponddischarges

through a

culvert beneath

the canal and

then into the

River Blythe

Proposed

Catesby Site Waterside

Apartments

Griffin Lane

Site

Country

Park

Proposed

David Wilson

SiteMain

Balancing

Ponddischarges

through a

culvert beneath

the canal and

then into the

River Blythe

Birchey Leasowes Rd

Pumping Station

Proposed

Catesby Site

Drainage Channel

dispersing surface

water from Dickens

Heath Rd area across

Rumbush Lane and

via the country park

to Griffin Lane

Balancing Pond

Waterside

Apartments

Griffin Lane

Site

Country

Park

Main

Balancing

Ponddischarges

through a

culvert beneath

the canal and

then into the

River Blythe

Proposed David

Wilson Site

Birchey Leasowes Rd

Pumping Station

Proposed


Apartments

Griffin Lane

Site

Country

Park

Main

Balancing

Ponddischarges

through a

culvert beneath

the canal and

then into the

River Blythe

Proposed David

Wilson Site

The following

photographs were

taken from this

location

The proposed Catesby Site

In order to avoid trespassing this photograph had to be taken from Dickens

Heath Road which runs along the northern perimeter.

The photograph attempts to show how the land falls away towards the southern

perimeter at Rumbush Lane creating a natural bowl which is under laid with

clay.


If we take a line along the fall of the land (click to insert line)


If we take a line along the fall of the landand then add another line along the

southern perimeter embankment.



southern perimeter embankment.Followed by a third line to indicate the

more steeply rising contour hidden by

the buildings and trees



southern perimeter embankment.Followed by a third line to indicate the

rising contour hidden by the buildings

and trees


I think it is easy to appreciate why a large area of this field floods and in so doing

It becomes a large attenuation pond

slow releasing the main body of flood water and helping to

protect the lower areas of Dickens Heath and places beyond

Birchey Leasowes Rd

Pumping Station

Proposed

Catesby Site

Drainage Channel

dispersing the Dickens

Heath Rd / Rumbush

Lane flooding and

feeding Griffin Lane

Balancing Pond

Waterside

Apartments

Griffin Lane

Site

Country

Park

Main

Balancing

Pond

Proposed David

Wilson Site

Birchey Leasowes Rd

Pumping Station

Proposed


Apartments

Griffin Lane

Site

Country

Park

Main

Balancing

Pond

Proposed David

Wilson Site

As indicated a Large area of the Catesby site regularly floods

Approximate

area of

Flooding


In order to provide a different perspective, photographs were also taken

from the gate towards the southern end of the Cleobury Lane perimeter

hedgerow.


In order to provide a different perspective, photographs were taken also

taken from the gate towards the southern end of the Cleobury Lane

perimeter hedgerow.

This is the location of the gate.


This photograph was taken from the Cleobury Lane Gate

The higher ground of Cleobury Lane closest to the camera can be

clearly appreciated to the right.


The higher ground of Dickens Heath Rd can also be seen to the distant left

which is the elevation from where the previous photograph was taken.


Much of the land you see in this picture floods very badly up to the

hedgerow embankment along Rumbush Lane.

This over a few hundred years has provided a naturally evolved flood path

barrier helping to protect the lower areas of Dickens Heath and places

beyond.

The next photographs are of Rumbush Lane which runs along the other side

of the above Hedgerow.

Rumbush Lane has a natural occurring low section at the point

where it passes the proposed Catesby development.

The road of course just mirrors the contours of the land it passes over

so how the road floods is just a reflection of what happens in the field

Actually that isn’t totally correct. The flooding in the field is normally

worse than in the road as the embankment helps to attenuate the flood

water.

Moderate to heavy rain causes serious flooding, even moderate rain can flood the road to

the extent shown and even beyond this level if the ground is already saturated from just

average rain fall. The depth can reach about .6mtr (2 feet) at the lowest point. The

proposed Catesby development is the field to the left.

Flooding Rumbush Lane

What you see here is an average

flood, which can and has

happened 3 or 4 time per year

most years we have lived here

At its worse the flood water will cover

the green embankment on the left and

extend along the road beyond the point

where this photograph was taken

This photograph has been taken from the opposite direction along Rumbush lane as a

flood was subsiding and it gives an idea of the depth that can be reached, which is

approximately 2 feet. This has been indicated with the dotted red line


We were told originally that the properties here had been constructed 2 feet above

any possible water level. As can be seen this assessment was flawed and I fear that

an intent to build on the land upstream of this flooding will make matters much

worse on Dickens Heath Road, Rumbush Lane and other places downstream.


Here you can see the same flood viewed from the driveway that was indicated with

the red dotted line in the previous picture. The whole drive is under water so it

follows that the water’s depth in the roadway must be as indicated by the dotted red

line.


When the water is at this depth the

whole of site 20 is below water

south of the present drainage

channel

Here follows some photographs of the sort of thing we have had to contend with 3

or 4 times per year for the last twelve years. Although thanks to Mr Jim Harte,

who in response to efforts from (then) Councillor Len Creswell ……


Issued instructions for temporary rectification work to be carried out by the down

stream land owner. ..(David Wilson Homes)


The work was carried out and

this did provide a respite for

around 2 years,


There was still flooding but it was not as severe, it is difficult to say if that was due to the

weather not being as severe or due the work that had been undertaken, but either way it

was eased for a while but now we do have the flooding back again.

The Garage threshold well under water, as the flood takes a shortcut through the

garage side door and off around the side of the house.

The section of flooded road in the

above picture is indicated by the red

broken line on the developer’s plan.

NB what you see here is not the worse

flooding, it can be deep enough to cover

the green embankment which can be seen

on the left beneath the trees

The section of flooded road in the

above picture is indicated by the red

broken line on the developer’s plan.

The two tiny retaining/attenuation

ponds they show appear to be ill

conceived and the problem greatly

under estimated, … here’s why

Here is Catesby’s plan againNB The scale did not match the FRM so it has been adjusted slightly to

be a better match

and here is the flood risk map for

that same location.

I think you can see

why Catesby are

showing two

attenuation features

But all they are doing is just not building

on the low spots that are already there.

I think you can see

why Catesby are

showing two

attenuation features

These two tiny ponds are completely

inadequate when compared to the

flood volume that has been witnessed

over the last 12 years

The Flood Risk Maps also show this

floodindg to be <.3mtr and a once in 30

year occurrence. The flooding of this site is

actually several times a year at a depth

greater than .3mtr and there are many

local eye witnesses to support that.

In addition the embankment

here holds back a huge volume of

water in heavy rain

It isn’t just the Rumbush Lane that floods to

a depth of approx 2 feet. The flooded road is

just the visual evidence of much wider

flooding in the upstream field. An estimated

50% of which can be under water and this is

conservatively indicated in red shading.

The flood eventually rises over the field’s

perimeter embankment and at this point the

road floods to a greater or lesser degree

depending the attenuation ability of the

embankment and the volume of flood water.

It should be noted that this field floods

many times per year without actually

over spilling onto the road, therefore

flooding can be much more frequent than

may be realised, presently the field provides

a natural overflow for Dickens Heath Road

and a slow release retention pond protecting

the lower down stream areas of Dickens

Heath. Such as Griffin Lane and the

Waterside apartments.

It is difficult to see how the displacement

from circa 160 foundations and associated

hard surfaces could improve the present

flooding. By their own admission at the

public meeting Catesby have grossly under

estimated the problem.

The downstream flood prevention measures

proposed by Wilson Homes are far more

extensive for a smaller site and on the face

of it seem adequate for the way things are at

present. I would suggest that the Catesby

/Cleobury Lane development should not go

ahead and should remain an open field

providing the natural large and flexible

flood attenuation pond that it is between

Dickens Heath Road and Rumbush Lane.

The Wilson Homes plans involve reducing the present

underground pipe run by approx 200ft, allowing free

flow of the road flooding into two relative large slow

release Attenuation ponds.

These ponds to be further backed up by having

graduated banking with a planted architecture over a

potential distance of 25 mtrs wide and running along

the whole length of the site to the country park.

This would seem adequate for the intended

purpose of relieving the present severe flooding

on Rumbush lane but introduce an increased and

admitted unknown run off from the proposed

Catesby site and it seems to me that we are again

already planning obsolescence into the Wilsons

downstream proposals.

Effectively this is returning the temporary drainage

scheme of Phase 1 to the condition it was in prior to

alteration and creating a wildlife pathway/flight path to

the country park.

At the recent Public meeting I found it very alarming to discover

that the developers (Catesby) were making planning

representation with no understanding or full appreciation of the

extent of flooding that occurs on this section of Rumbush Lane.

Neither did they have a grasp of what was causing the flooding.

Eg. I enquired what they knew of the flooding.

Their reply was they understood there to be problems with the

culvert which they would address during development of the site.

I enquired how this would be addressed

They replied that they intended to build a brick header on the

culvert’s upstream inlet and probably lay concrete hard standing for

a short way upstream of the inlet which should help to keep it clear.

Here you see photographs of the upstream inlet they refer to. These

pictures were taken after the flood shown in the previous photos so the

problem will not be solved by keeping the culvert clear, it was and is

clear and running at full bore but the field and road still floods.

After showing Cateby representatives a selection of these photographs at

the public meeting they appeared to be lost for words and made noises

amounting to a serious rethink being required. There was some suggestion

of underground tanks which could be built over. I would suggest that is

complete madness being nothing but an ongoing maintenance issue for the

ratepayer and possibly rendering property uninsurable in the long term.

I would suggest that this land is

totally unsuitable for development

other than perhaps in some

perimeter areas. Plus there is …..

The Bat Wood (as it has been named)

Bat Wood

The small wooded area on the N.E.

corner of the site.

A group of mature creeper covered

trees which appear to be home for a

number of Bats and an Owl or two

and also a chosen nesting site for

Woodpeckers, but I am particularly

concerned about the Bats which

appear on the summer evenings

from that direction, it is thought that

they may roost in the heavily

creeper covered trees.

Plus there is Little Dickens Wood

Bat Wood & Little Dickens Wood.

The hedgerows and the whole of

this site, south of the drainage

channel, provides a foraging area

for Bats.

The two small wooded areas shown

appear to provide their summer

roosts nesting and hibernation sites

Flight paths should be maintained

between these two areas and the

country park which they may spread

to over time as trees mature. Their

foraging ground also needs to be

maintained if they are to survive.

Already planned 25mtr

wide Green

corridor/flight path/

attenuation feature to

the Country Park via the

proposed Wilsons Homes

Development

In summary,

there is much opposition from many residents towards the further erosion of greenbelt land and especially this latest

development.

At the outset Dickens Heath was to be circa 800 dwellings it is now almost double that and the 3 newly proposed

developments seem set to add almost another 50% to the original forecast, and that is without counting completion of

the village centre, which will be high density housing and as yet has not even been started.

It also seems that developers are now being allowed to leap frog and cherry pick the better development opportunities

pushing boundaries ever further into our green belt while leaving the village centre an unfinished eyesore .

The infrastructure of Dickens Heath is already stretched. The newly extended train station parking at Whitlocks End has

already reached overspill levels with the tarmac hardly set, and soon there may be developments going ahead at

Cheswick Green, Tidbury Green, and Lowbrook Farm plus the earlier planned Dickens Heath developments of Braggs

Farm Lane and Griffin Lane, plus the high density housing of the still to be completed Dickens Heath Centre .

Those developments alone are likely to render Whitlocks End Station Car park totally inadequate only 24 months after

completion of it’s extension, and the sprawl of tarmac and concrete creeps ever closer together, denying future

generations what little rural living we have left. I am told Classes at Dickens Heath School are at capacity, and the

newly doubled up bus service is presently just about adequate.

Rumbush Lane itself is just that a Lane not a main road, already there is too much traffic using it. This Catesby

development is surely a field too far, we owe it to future generations and the ecology as a whole to use what we have

wisely and with a greater concern for the wildlife habitats that we continue to casually cover with concrete in an ever

widening sprawl.

Catesby dev

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