All of the 294,000 drains on Lancashire’s roads are to be cleaned out over the next two years after highways bosses decided to ditch a policy which meant the majority of them have never been routinely maintained.
Lancashire County Council’s cabinet approved the work after being told checking every roadside gully would not only reduce the risk of flooding caused by blockages, but also be more cost-effective than the current, largely “reactive” approach of responding to problems only when they emerge.
At the moment, just 38 percent – or 113,000 – of Lancashire’s gullies are cleaned on a regular basis, of either every one or two years. The remaining 181,000 are visited only once it has been reported that they are not working properly.
Cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick acknowledged that the current system meant there were a “significant” number of drains that had never been inspected.
Once the forthcoming two-year inspection programme has been completed, the data it has generated on the condition of the gullies will be used to inform a new five-year assessment regime.
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