Flooding/bad drainage in the parks

[Nigello]

Both PR and D Parks are full of really rather large ponds, not puddles. The one parallel to Peckham Rye (at the boys' school) is massive!

Also, as usual, L Land has its annoyingly frequent and deep-enough-to-wet-your-shoes puddles opposite the Picture House, and the obligatory ponding at practically every dropped kerb. (I have notified the local councillors, the park people and Helen Hayes, so not just whining on here like is the usual.)

If you are cheesed off, please email the relevant councillor and CC the MP, including your phone number, home address and email address if you want the MP to even consider reading it.

[spider69]

If Dulwich Park has really large ponds is this because all the works that were untaken not so long ago are working to stop the entitled of Dulwich from flooding or a complete cockup?

[KidKruger]

the ground is saturated at the moment, the rain has nowhere to soak into, so it's sort of inevitable, Nunhead cemetery and the woods are the same - large puddles.

[Nigello]

Yes, I get that - but the grids are usually totally blocked in the park and the sand on the horsetrack gets loose and clogs it up (that's not my supposition but was told me by a park officer). Crappy tarmacking that splits at the first opportunity (see also in PR park and Dawson's Hill) doesn't help.

[Sue]

Wasn't there some massive drainage work done in Dulwich Park some years back, or am I imagining it?

[KidKruger]

There were huge drainage works done, I think to protect the posh houses.

[alice]

Can we have our ?4,000,000 back please?

[KidKruger]

🤣🤣

[katesonic]

Likewise in Peckham Rye.... the River Peck was diverted and re-established through the park but unfortunately they over looked the flow on the side of Harris Boys school which has always flooded in my time here ( 30 yrs).

Even in summer you can hear it flow through the culverts.

K.

[Blah Blah]

There are plans to do some works on Peckham Rye Park to ease drainage.

[heartblock]

The underground rivers of South London - diverted and constrained, along with too much hard landscaping. Dulwich Park was also redesigned as a flood plain to protect Dulwich Village property.

[Siduhe]

I thought the whole point of the extensive works in Dulwich Park was to create more water storage and using bunds to create puddles/run off areas in the park, as a store for excess rain and ground water - so as to prevent a repeat of the Herne Hill flood (after everyone recognised back in 2013/14 that the drains in the area have insufficient capacity to cope with prolonged heavy rainfall). Not aware that anything similar has been done in PR , but for Dulwich Park, I kind of thought this is what we were all expecting to happen?

[nxjen]

Yeah, there was a thread about it seven years ago

https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1246501,page=1

[Nigello]

The huge puddle near to the Court Lane gate had this morning largely disappeared, and the grids where it had been had evidence of someone having scraped them out. Big puddles on the posh gravel on the way up to that lovely blue cottage had shrunk but were still there. The local councillor said this was the remit of the Dulwich Estate (without saying that she would contact it).

[Earl Aelfheah]

As people say, there way a lot of work undertaken to deliberately divert and hold water in Dulwich Park. This was to reduce the risk of flooding in the village and ensure their premiums didn't rise too much. It's not helped by all the people concreting their front gardens for yet more car storage - the drains can't cope with all the run off.