VILLAGERS from Lydbrook packed the Memorial Hall last Thursday, to hear a multi agency response to the flooding that has affected the village for the past 14 months.

Following a short presentation by civil engineering company Atkins about the state of the culverts under the village that are central to the flooding problems, Peter Hibberd, Strategic Director of the Forest of Dean District Council, presented an opening speech.

The audience was invited to visit tables which had been set out in part of the hall, which were earmarked for the Forestry Commission, Gloucestershire County Council, the Environment Agency, the District Council, and contractors Atkins, to discuss their problem.

However, the audience proved rebellious and, with raised voices, demanded that the meeting continue – with the representatives giving their answers to direct questions before the entire assembly. This they eventually agreed to, and the meeting continued, with arguments breaking out over who could be held responsible for the state of the drains.

Further consternation followed, as conflicting views on the different solutions to the flooding problems were aired, with the current state of the culverts forming a centrepiece to many of the arguments, as well as the scope and size of the catchment area for rainwater that the culverts have to bear.

Some idea of the current state of the drainage systems had been shown by photographs from a CCTV camera that had filmed the insides of the culverts – but the scope of the camera survey was questioned by the audience because only around 75 per cent of the tunnels had been surveyed.

Solutions to the problems included the building of a gigantic millpond at the top of the village, which could hold back excessive floodwaters, protecting the lower sections of the village from the sort of flooding that inundated the area around the Jovial Colliers in late 2012, and again in recent weeks.

Retired mining engineer and resident of the village, Eric Morris, suggested tunneling back into the hill in upper Lydbrook, diverting the waters of the problematic Great Hough Brook from Mireystock, and channeling it through old mine workings so that the waters eventually joined the River Lyd, and then emptied into the Severn Estuary at Lydney.

Tempers flared during the evening, as the villagers heard conflicting accounts of the state of the drains network, but under the skilful direction of Peter Hibberd, the meeting came to some firm conclusions – with the Highways Agency and the Environment Agency agreeing to clear the above ground portions of the brook, and make a more detailed survey of the portions that are under the main road.

Consternation was expressed when it was suggested that the 'riparian owners' – owners of the riverbank – of the above ground sections of the stream could be held accountable to the rest of the village for the massive cost of the clear-up following the flooding, and villagers leaving the meeting were heard to vent their anger at the idea.

One unhappy resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Review: "The meeting wasn't really a success, it just intimidated the village. We didn't hear any really useful information about how they are planning to sort out the flooding problems – just how massive the cost could be.

"Then to suggest that we should bear that cost because the stream runs over our properties was terrifying. I can see some people are going to lose sleep over that threat."

But she added: "I don't think they (the agencies) knew what to tell us. They certainly couldn't agree on how we can go forward. If that's how they respond in a public meeting where they are being held accountable on the spot, I don't like to think how they can possibly work together when they are back in their offices."

But praise was also offered to the local councillors, who had worked with the agencies and the villagers on the problems that the flooding has caused.