The Local Development Plan produced several years ago by Maldon District Council included as a major part of the plan, an addition to the surface water flood alleviation scheme for the northern area of Heybridge.

At the public hearing of the plan, the presiding inspector very quickly told Maldon District Council, the flood alleviation scheme could not be part of the planning applications included.

This was a severe blow to Maldon District Council as the council expected the developer to meet the main part of the finance to put in place a flood alleviation scheme.

The proposed scheme was, in our opinion, a vastly over engineered plan which would produce serious detrimental issues as time went on.

My recommendation was to abandon the flood alleviation plan and consider a much simpler plan which would have served North Heybridge well.

This, of course, was ignored by Maldon District Council.

The Environment Agency was called on to provide a life long maintenance schedule for the proposed scheme to which it declined involvement.

So where does that leave Heybridge and surface water flood alleviation?

It leaves us with an existing system of ditches, drains and culverts which mainly were installed some 150 years ago by the landowners and farmers to control surface water flooding and make the land suitable for agriculture.

If this system was regularly maintained as it was then, to a fit-for-purpose condition, flooding issues would be controllable. Sadly this has not happened.

I have suggested to the authorities that to employ say two people with the right equipment on a full time basis to maintain all the drainage systems in the district, especially Heybridge, then the majority of flooding issues could be removed.

The existing drainage system is next door to useless in part through lack of upkeep and maintenance over the years. This situation can readily be rectified.

Maldon District Council, Essex County Council, the lead local flood authority, and the Environment Agency are the authorities involved in flood alleviation for Heybridge.

What is happening is either nothing or a veil of secrecy has been placed over the whole matter.

To try to find answers, I submitted a Freedom of Information request to Maldon District Council asking what progress on a flood alleviation scheme for Heybridge was being made and a schedule of maintenance for the existing drainage system.

The response was: “Maldon District Council is unable to provide information on any schemes in this area or any surface water maintenance programme.”

Maldon District Council has completely ignored the context of the Freedom of Information Act which can only add to the secrecy in how the council operates in such matters.

I have requested further information from Maldon District Council, Essex County Council and the Environment Agency.

Don Benson

Elizabeth Way, Heybridge