Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association Ltd
Environment - 9 "Wet Spots" - where are we now ?
Drainage update 28 - 03.01.2020 - 9 "Wet Spots" - where are we now ?

"Wet Spot" 1 at the Cricket Club has been OK for some time and has amber status waiting to see what happens.

"Wet Spot" 2 by the speed bump near Longlea has caused trouble in the past and is again. RBWM cleared the ditches in 2014 but since then there has been no maintenance. It doesn't take much to block the narrow and shallow section past the bump. Wet weather is again producing familiar problems. An OGAFCA volunteer has cleared dumped rubble, garden waste, and sandy clay both sides of the speed bump but really the landowner should clear this annually. From past experience that's unlikely. Long term hope lies in asking RBWM to come to the rescue again. Consequently the status of this spot has gone from green in 2014 through amber to red currently.

"Wet Spot" 3 at Braywood Lodge on the Oakley Green Road is also a waiting amber. In 2011 OGAFCA volunteers cleared ditches and RBWM jetted the pipe under the verge. We thought we'd cracked it but in 2014 learned the problem was not resolved.

For many years "Wet Spot" 4 was referred to as the "Coningsby Lane shambles" - but no longer ! Last summer RBWM carried out our proposals, installing a culvert under the Lane and a pipeline northward as a substitute for the ditch that was once there. It took around 17 years to achieve ! A massive volume of water has passed through the new route which would have collected at the junction of the Lane with Fifield Road. It has also provided an exit route for the huge volume of water that collects along the northern boundary of a property north of the Lane. The landowner has now cleared a stretch of ditch to join into the new system but an OGAFCA volunteer will now need to distribute the spoil and debris left carelessly along the footpath. The combined flow is gushing along like a fast stream. It is very pleasing to see a system functioning as predicted. The work left an inviting access to the north but a lockable bollard is now installed. After the years of red status this spot has finally turned GREEN ! There are still times when water collects at the junction backing up from further south. This is a different problem associated with "wet spot" 8.

"Wet Spot" 5, the Oakley Green Road field entrance near Forest Farm, has been green since 2014. Water flowing out of this gateway used to cause road flooding. Streetcare carried out a reduced version of our recommendations and installed 2 extra gullies. This improved things and there has been no recurrence.

"Wet Spot" 6 is at the junction of Forest Green Road and Coningsby Lane at Ledger Farm. Water coming down off the Drift Road lacks an adequate onward route and inevitably crosses the road. There is no easy solution to this and the best we can hope for is to encourage the landowner to provide more sump area on the south side of the road to delay the flow. This still has red status.

"Wet Spot" 7, south of Stewart Close, regularly filled with water and threatened houses. It affected the largest number of properties and Residents so OGAFCA prioritised it. Streetcare were helpful and launched a study. In October 2014 a new pipe system and gullies were installed. The contractors reported that the ditch towards the polo pitch needed to be cleared or water would back up in the new pipe. The landowner promised to carry out maintenance but this has not been done. This has GREEN status until proved otherwise.

The ditch and car park at the Fifield Inn were considered part of "wet spot" 7 but are now clearly a separate issue caused by the limited capacity of the pipe from the car park entrance north to the same ditch towards the polo pitch. There are more pressing priorities so "wet Spot" 7B remains at red.

"Wet Spot" 8 centres around the culvert south of Coningsby Lane. Water heading north from "Wet Spot" 6 on Forest Green Road arrives at this point to get through the culvert and a restricted route to the Manor Grove culvert where it overflows again. Another benefit of the new Coningsby Lane system is that vast volumes of water are no longer contributing to this. This red status situation is very difficult to resolve and the only hope is to delay as much as possible on the way across country between Forest Green Road and this spot.

Most difficult to find a solution for is "Wet Spot" 9 at the Cardinal Clinic. This really starts on Tarbay Lane with water passing through properties south of Dedworth Road to collect and focus on one spot. If proposed housing for this area goes ahead the developers will have an intriguing problem on their hands !