Given the monsoon conditions we have experienced it has brought to light a big problem in Sheffield which was mentioned this morning on Radio Sheffield.
There are more than 72,000 gullies with only 4 operatives employed to clean them out.
I for one have NEVER seen anyone from the council on my street cleaning out the gullies. They are full to the top with mud, silt and other street rubbish which they collect. Blocked gullies mean flooded roads and standing water which leadds to the mass disruption around Sheffield this morning.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought part of my council tax went to pay for road maintenance and cleaning. So what exactly am I paying for?????
I certainly won't get a rebate if they don't clean my street. :loopy:

I have lived in Sheffield for 13 years and can say i have seen them clean the drains - ONCE.
It is quite amazing the way any amount of rain causes river formations running down the roads. It never happened where i used to live, i did wonder if it was to do with the hilliness here, but if they cleaned the drains regularly i think it would work a bit better. (Oh and having roads that stayed together when it rained would work too)

Just to correct any misunderstanding about city-wide maintenance.
Sheffield -from a Council point of view -consists of an area not exceeding 1000 metres from the Town Hall.All other suburban areas unlikely to be seen by inward investors,loft-livers and
assorted bigwigs can get stuffed.Except in the month prior to the local elections and Royal visits.

Originally posted by BAZZO
Just to correct any misunderstanding about city-wide maintenance.
Sheffield -from a Council point of view -consists of an area not exceeding 1000 metres from the Town Hall.All other suburban areas unlikely to be seen by inward investors,loft-livers and
assorted bigwigs can get stuffed.Except in the month prior to the local elections and Royal visits.

You have hit the nail directly on it's bonce Bazzo, but they have been re-elected to do 'more of the same'.

The problem with gullies and blocked drains is that no-one notices them until it rains.

Report blocked drains when it's dry and you'll have more chance of getting them cleaned out.

It's a vicious circle. Water can't get down the gullies, it finds cracks in the tarmac and erodes the base-fill, then in winter the frost gets into the water under the tarmac and lifts it, breaking up the surface even more.

I can remember as a kid there seemed to be lots of gully cleaners and it only took a few minutes to suck out and clean each gully. These days they have to dig gullies out with crowbars and shovels before they can even use the sucker on them.

On the local TV news this morning they said Queens Road was under two feet of water and on some roads into Sheffield the surface was so broken up they had to be closed.

I bet Upwell Street and Newhall Road were flooded again - never seemed to happen when the old trams used these roads.

Originally posted by max
The problem with gullies and blocked drains is that no-one notices them until it rains.



You must be joking!

There is so much dirt and rotting leaf matter in the gutters that I have seen that it supports plant sucessions. Weeds started first of all and now small saplings are sprouting from germinated acorns in the gutters of Woodhouse. You don't have to wait for rainfall to predict what will happen when the rain does come.

Originally posted by Mo
You must be joking!

There is so much dirt and rotting leaf matter in the gutters that I have seen that it supports plant sucessions. Weeds started first of all and now small saplings are sprouting from germinated acorns in the gutters of Woodhouse. You don't have to wait for rainfall to predict what will happen when the rain does come.

The downside of living in such a green and wooded city, I suppose.

The street sweeper comes down Beaver Hill Road, but only in autumn when the leaves are about a foot deep!

You can ring Sheffield Direct Services on 2734567 and report problems like blocked guillies.

what are gullies?

Originally posted by SaxonLeigh
what are gullies?

Gullies are drains basically. I live on a road that dips and has never been cleaned although it has been reproted numerous times by many people on the road including myself. When it rains it's a nice little pool for ducks, I also heard the radio Sheffield interview, was tempted to call in and mention this.

my father used to drive one of the gulley emptiers, and in winter he changed over to gritters when needed, I spoke to him about it and when they changed over from the SYCC the cuts in equipment and man power left them very much depleeted, there are now only 2 gulley emptiers for sheffield, and concidering the amout of gulleys ect that need cleaning that figure is inadequate, cutting back to save money is the main reason, if they had more indians than cheifs this would help, but unfortunatley as always its the other way around.
If the council spent less time arsing about and wasteing money there would be money to run essential operations help prevent catastrophes like the one we are experiencing now.

In Rotherham I used to see the drain or gulley clearing lorry quite regularly, with a big hoover/hose type attachment. It probably came along our quiet cul-de-sac at least twice a year. I never really thought about it, but in the 2 years since we moved here, I realise I've not seen one at all. :huh:

Given the monsoon conditions we have experienced it has brought to light a big problem in Sheffield which was mentioned this morning on Radio Sheffield.
There are more than 72,000 gullies with only 4 operatives employed to clean them out.
I for one have NEVER seen anyone from the council on my street cleaning out the gullies. They are full to the top with mud, silt and other street rubbish which they collect. Blocked gullies mean flooded roads and standing water which leadds to the mass disruption around Sheffield this morning.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought part of my council tax went to pay for road maintenance and cleaning. So what exactly am I paying for?????
I certainly won't get a rebate if they don't clean my street. :loopy:

Gullies- are they the grates at the side of the road?

Around S11, they are shocking and have been for months- blocked with silt and cr*p, no wonder they were useless during recent bad weather. I was only saying, it would be a good job for a few 'commnity service' volunteers to poke the crap out of the gratings, keep the roads and waterways clear...

You can ring Sheffield Direct Services on 2734567 and report problems like blocked guillies.

If they sent someone around in a van regularly enough, it wouldnt take more than 5 mins to find a load that needed clearing anyway...shouldnt have to report them, should be automatically sorted.

They clean the drains regularly on my street. It's lined with large trees and otherwise they get blocked and overflow.