Flooding in Cleasby near Darlington sees events cancelled

The village of Cleasby, near Darlington, has seen events cancelled and businesses affected due to the repeated problems. 

But council officials have said that the complexity of the situation has meant that work to solve the problem has been delayed.

David Carter, acting chairperson of Cleasby village hall, said the flooding is the "death of organising anything" in the community, as people are constantly worried that wet weather would mean a cancellation. 

The flooding in Cleasby village (Image: DAVID CARTER) A series of events at the hall have had to be cancelled, leading to a financial loss to the hall and organisers.

Mr Carter, who has urged North Yorkshire Council to take action, said: "As soon as it rains, you can guarantee that the drains and roads will overflow and it will mean that yet another event has to be cancelled.

"Going back around a year, a local farmer cleared the drains and all was okay again – but we now think there needs to be more done than people from the village cleaning the drain – there needs to be proper action.

"In the build-up to events, there's always a little bit of hesitance just in case it can't go ahead.

"Everyone has been in touch with the council and highways but we're no further onward."

It's believed that the issues with the flooding stem from two culvert drains being blocked, with the most recent flooding issue on September 30 seeing the hall have three cancellations in one week.

The number of cancellations at the hall is 15 now since last November.

Mr Carter added: "It is difficult organising anything for the hall or the church as they may be cancelled at any moment should it rain just previous to the event.
"It takes hours for the water to drain away before anyone can enter the village to use the hall or the church."

The extent of the flooding in Cleasby (Image: DAVID CARTER) Stapleton and Cleasby Parish Council has also expressed disappointment at the situation.

Councillor Karen Webster called for a solution to be found, and added: "The only parking in Cleasby is on the road and people can't park if the road is underwater."

In response, North Yorkshire Council's executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan said: “We were alerted to flooding on the public bridleway known as Chapel Lane in Cleasby in December last year, which results in water running onto nearby roads.

“We appreciate the frustration that villagers have, but unfortunately this has proved a very complex project.

Flooding in Cleasby (Image: DAVID CARTER) “When we inspected the site, we found that the drainage ditch along the bridleway needed dredging to improve water flow and reduce the chance of flooding.

“Our aim was to carry out this work in May. However, we faced problems with sewage flowing into the ditch which needed to be fixed before we could dredge it.

“We have worked with the water company, and this has been resolved. We are now liaising with our contractor to reschedule the works as soon as possible and will keep the public updated.

“Once the dredging work has been completed the gullies in the area will be cleaned and we will continue to monitor the area.”