Boston really is "Waterland"

There was a time when a regular sight on our roads was that of a mini tanker crawling along and stopping every few yards for a worker to lift a drain cover and insert the tube of what looked like a giant vacuum cleaner to clear the pipework below of rubbish and debris.
When did you last see one?
Difficult to say, isn’t it?
Presumably someone, somewhere, has decided that they can save a few quid by cutting back on the frequency of this work - certainly the evidence suggests that this is the case.
Before we took our recent break, we posted a photo of weeds growing through the grating of a roadside drain on John Adams Way.
They were able to do so, because just six inches below the grille there is a packed layer of dust and debris providing a bed on which the weeds can flourish.
Over the past few days, we have taken a stroll along the road and found that in many cases the drains are blocked - or partially blocked.
After the weekend’s heavy rains, water was clearly visible less than an inch below some drain covers, and we are sure that at the peak of the rain it was overflowing on to the road itself.
And how about this picture?

It was also taken not far from John Adams Way, some hours after it stopped raining, and clearly shows how a blockage has allowed water to accumulate and in this case flood part of the road.
This particular site floods regularly.
And how many of you have been forced to paddle their way through the lagoons in Pescod Square after heavy rain?
The state of the drains around the town is now such that in the not-so-unlikely event of prolonged heavy rain, we could see potentially damaging surface water flooding simply because the powers that be have put economy ahead of the need for routine maintenance.
We should never have taken the mickey when the famous “Boston Experience” dubbed the town “Waterland.” Someone was just showing remarkable prescience.
Surely, there is someone in the ruling group on our council who has responsibility for this sort of thing, and who should rattle a cage or two at County Hall to get this work done before Boston gets some unwanted flooding and more bad publicity.
If there isn’t then there should be.


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