Sleepers Hill has no formal surface water drainage system as one would find on a public road. Instead, there are basically road channels running down the north and south sides of the road which channel the water to the bottom of the hill.
The following developments have resulted in an increase in the amount of water running down the hill:
- Continuing housing development of the north side of the hill
- Increase in the use of non permeable driveways and pavements/verges
- Climate change leading to an increase in rainfall and in the number of short intense downfalls
As a result of these changes the current system can no longer cope in heavy downpours leading to localised flooding of verges, gardens and garages. In response, the SHA has commissioned 2 reports:
2013/14 report – this looked at the lower section of the hill and came up with 3 suggestions, namely:
- The installation of soakaways (1 in the north verge and 3 in the south verge)
- Amend the driveway profile/drainage arrangements at Bickleigh (which had experienced flooding)
- Change the existing kerb inlet gully (just before the Airlie Road junction) to a gully and pot arrangement
Only option 3 was implemented as test holes showed option 1 was not feasible (due to the location of services and roots) and option 2 was the responsibility of the home owner.
2024 report – this looked at the whole road and came up with 3 suggestions – in order of preference:
- Permeable block paving in 5-10m bands across the road
- Permeable pavement (south verge)
- Narrow filter drains (north verge only as cannot sustain traffic)
Option 1 was deemed too expensive to replicate on a large enough scale to be effective. Test holes were dug in the verge of Meadows to assess option 2. The test holes revealed services at a depth of 300mm and soakage tests were disappointing ie poor filtration rates. Option 3 was deemed a non starter. The 2024 AGM agreed no further work should be undertaken and it would be individual resident’s responsibility to deal with any drainage issues affecting them.
Further details on these reviews can be found below.
Review 2013/14
Proposed Drainage Improvements prepared by RPF Associates 2013
Drainage Report & Suggested Improvements RPF 2014 – Please note the reference to Stratton Road should read ‘Sleepers Hill’.
Notes on the above report by Tim Jones May 2014
Further notes on Drainage Improvements by Tim Jones Sept. 2014
Reference to Drainage in SHA 2014 Annual Report
Review 2024
Investigation and possible solutions to the drainage problem were carried out by Paul Basham Associates, Consulting Civil Engineers – referred to as PB.
PB Fee Proposal Aug. 2024
Meeting with PB Sept. 2024
PB Q&As following the above
PB Report Oct 2024
Extract from AGM 2024 regarding Drainage discussions
Summary Paper Oct.2024