Call for action on village flooding as rain sets in

A YARNBROOK councillor is calling for action after a giant pond dug to stop flooding in the village is, he says, clogged up with silt and failing.

Horace Prickett, North Bradley parish councillor and county councillor for Southwick, says the balancing pond on the Westbury Road out of Yarnbrook has been neglected and no longer does what it was built for.

After heavy downpours last week the pond burst its banks, flooding a popular footpath nearby and spilled out onto the main road.

“Yarnbrook used to flood badly every winter until this pond was dug,” cllr Prickett said.

“It worked very well but is now so full of silt and debris that I would think it can only take a third or, at most, half of what it should.

“It was overflowing badly a few years ago and we were told that if we wanted it dredged the parish council would have to pay between £18,000 and £30,000 to have it done. The precept was about £6,000 so that went out the window. The pond is overflowing onto the road and local people aren’t happy about it.”

The huge pond works by collecting rain and groundwater to ease pressure on the nearby River Biss, which runs under the Westbury Road. In the past the river and the fields surrounding it have flooded the road beneath the railway bridge.

“This area has always been a bit of a flooding hotspot,” cllr Prickett continued. “I’ve had to push a lot of cars out of floods under that bridge in the past.

“My concern is that it’s only November and the pond’s already overflowing. It needs proper maintenance  otherwise we’re going to end up back where we were 20 years ago, with the village flooding every winter.”

Following a request from White Horse News, Wiltshire Council was unable to confirm who was responsible for the area or whether any action would be taken.