Gritting in Gilberdyke

Following the Snow and its subsequent compaction into ice on the side roads and footpaths of the village many residents were struggling to get around or even to remain upright in places. East Riding County Council were working flat out to maintain the main routes open and could not give realistic dates for any clearance or gritting of these areas.
The Parish Council purchased gritsalt and by use of a borrowed trailer and Paul Robinsons 4 wheel drive Toyota, community volunteers undertook spreading on the worst sections. The footpath from Wards Hotel to the junction near the medical centre were gritted. Hansard Drive (where even the 4 wheel drive had trouble moving) Greenacre Park, Westbrook, and much of Bellasize were treated before the supplies were used up, stopping work.
This will hopefully enable mums and children to access the school and shops with less risk of falling. It was noticeable that a number of people were quick to thank the team for their efforts but one person seemed unable to grasp that the volunteers were not to blame for the ice and had a good old moan - there is always one!

ERYC upheaval

I note the East Riding Mail has extensive coverage of the fallout from the Susan Lockwood early retirement pension top up payment scandal. Four Conservative Councillors are being blamed by some for the deselection of ten of the old guard by the National organisation.


It seems quite bizarre that those who have the integrity to stand up against injustice should be portrayed as guilty, when they should actually be hailed as heroes with the courage to try to put right wrongs which exist.


I am not a party member but if I was I would feel gratitude that such people were willing to work towards improving the local government of this county.


I am absolutely certain that going over the heads of the local group is a course of action which would only be taken after making their feelings known to the local heirarchy first but obviously their representations fell on stony ground, hence the "move upstairs". Our local ward councillor Paul Robinson is one of the four councillors named in the article and I would like to offer my profound thanks to him for acting with honour. No doubt at some stage he will comment in his blog which can be reached via the link . http://cllrpaulrobinson.com

Drainage Project Stalled

Following on from the last blog article. The Parish Council held an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday night (24th Nov) to discuss the situation. Five members of the public attended, three flood victims, resident W and one of his sons. The situation was reported that the contractor had been called off due to lack of written consent by resident W for access.

The proceedings were closed to enable members of the public to speak and resident W advised that he wished to have a legal agreement that the Parish Council would maintain the proposed new drain in perpetuity. (The Parish Council cannot accept such a condition but has already agreed and minuted the decision to set funds aside to cleanse the new system. Parish Council minutes are a legal document acceptable in a court of law.)

He further advised that he would not grant access as despite owning the property at 6 Scalby Lane it was tenanted by a family member and he could not say whether the tenant would allow the access. However Riparian Law relates to land owners and the council can only deal with owners not tenants. Any landlord has rights of entry for maintenance and to undertake works.

The Parish Council felt that they had reached an impasse. In the circumstances they resolved to ask resident W one more time to grant permission for access to the dyke across 6 Scalby Lane. A deadline of noon Friday to give a chance of the contractor being able to react in time was laid down and the meeting ended. If the response is not forthcoming phase 1 cannot proceed and thus phases 2 and 3 also cannot proceed. Responsibility for any future flooding can be laid directly at the door of this one individual.

Phase 1 of flood risk reduction works to start

Following a very long and torturous process the long awaited first stage of the improvement works is due to start on Monday 22nd of November. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council drainage department have slightly amended the design to move the termination of the proposed culvert downstream to make access for future maintenance easier. The residents at either side of the dyke were consulted. At a residents meeting held in the Cross Keys hotel when the scheme was explained to them by the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board and the contractor present to discuss methods proposed the required access it was agreed the job proceed with the 22nd November as the start date. Funding of this phase is arranged by the Parish Council.
As the contractor would require significant access working room at the rear of 6 Scalby Lane the parish council held a special meeting to approve payment to restore the drive and garden to its "before" condition on completion. Independant survey photographs of the drive and garden would be taken at the start of work and removeable items taken up and stored safely for the duration of the job.
On completion of phase 1 the county council will undertake the subsequent phases of the works to provide secure and improved drainage to Westbrook Road and surrounds. This subsequent work is conditional upon phase 1 completion.

Anti-Social Behaviour

The village is developing an unenviable notoriety for rowdy youth behaviour. Of late we have seen youths damaging property in the centre of the village and creating an atmosphere of apprehension among the residents. Some of the problems may be attributed to outside youths but there seems to be a hard core of troublemakers who live within the village itself.
The troubles are escalating and within a matter of only a few weeks we have seen an assault on the pensioner who locked the play area gates, a pumpkin hurled through a window, an assault on an off duty police officer, and during the last week the old Sandholme Station house has been gutted by fire. Local radio news mentioned this as being of suspicious origin - is this a euphamism for arson? The rule of law appears to be breaking down.
Softly softly policies seem to be ineffective - where do we as a community go from here?

Bizarre behaviour concerns outside school

At the October Gilberdyke Parish Council meeting it was reported that a male resident of the village had been taking photographs outside the school entrance while the children were going to and leaving the school gates. A number of parents had been upset about this and some verbally complained to Parish Councillors.


The Parish Council were unable to take any action without a formal letter or written complaint but recommend that any resident who is concerned about such photographic activity should contact the Police (via the 999 service) to ask for action to stop this photography and investigate the motives of individuals concerned. The threat of paedophilia seems to be on everyones mind when activities around our children are questioned, however proper investigation by trained police officers is required and it is important that conclusions are correctly reached.

A close shave?

In the 24 hours from 4 pm Saturday to 4 pm Sunday we had 25mm of rain fall on Gilberdyke. 15mm fell in a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon and many of the gardens in Westbrook Road began to flood. Thankfully the rain stopped but it serves as a sharp reminder that the flood risk improvement works are still waiting to start. The Parish Council and the Flood Action Group have been struggling to get things moving since after the floods of 2007 but hindered very severely by the actions and objections of a very small number of people for reasons of their own.
Let us hope that the works can be completed in as short a time as humanly possible!

Village activities for the children and teenagers - BMX?

During an informal meeting of councillors to discuss the way forward regarding future street cleaning, and play area, security, some of the local teenagers were outside and so were invited in to give input regarding the provision of play or recreation areas. One young man was particularly impressive as he spoke with clarity and confidence on the subject of a BMX area.

The main sticking point to the idea lies in finding a suitable spot which would not create objection from nearby residents yet at the same time be accessible. The actual cost of provision would be quite low since all that is really needed is space and soil to create "hills and holes" with ideally some street lighting for winter evenings. The Parish Council will continue to seek a suitable location and hope that a solution can be found.

The village youngsters had created their own unofficial BMX track on some Railway Land at the South of the Station bridge but Network Rail were not happy about this as it was open to the tracks, and so closed off the area, which was a shame but understandable in the present climate of risk, blame and litigation.

If anyone has suggestions for suitable locations please pass them to the Parish Clerk.

Democracy tied in knots to suit a disgruntled resident?

For a couple of years now Gilberdyke Parish Council has been subject to a campaign of disruption by the resident who created the undersized culvert in the critical dyke between Scalby Lane and Chestnut Drive (a dyke which he has repeatedly claimed he does not own or have responsibility for). This culvert was created after the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board told him not to do it but he went ahead anyway.

This disruption has ranged from repetetive letters and threats to the Parish Council containing spurious claims, to distributing leaflets to the villagers containing false information and blatant lies. He obviously is aware that his activities are creating an atmosphere of dissent and must have some reluctance to being identified in official records as he is now attempting (with the support of the Information Commissioners Office) to have his name removed from all council documents, minutes and public records. If he is so sure of his position why does he not have the courage to be identified?

If the council decide to agree to this the implications for the council and democracy at local level are damaging and far reaching. The council policy dictates it cannot and will not act on the basis of anonymous letters. Therefore if a letter is received even correctly signed and addressed but the sender cannot be disclosed or recorded, it becomes anonymous, therefore any content must be ignored and the letter discarded. Further any matter where a persons name such as a planning application will become public should be held confidential and members of the public be excluded. The situation if allowed to develop would result in the council holding almost all of its meetings in closed session and the present open and accountable system with members of the public free to attend and observe as they wish would end simply to prevent inadvertent disclosure of anyones identity.

Hardly good for democracy or open local government and certainly a conflict with the aims of freedom of information - all because of the antics of a misguided individual with a few followers!

Hooligan Behaviour

One of the gatemen who lock up the Parish Council provided play area has suffered an assault by unruly youths on the evening of Friday 10th September. Obviously this is intolerable behaviour and the Parish Council now need to decide whether to continue to provide this facility. If the play area is left unlocked will the youths vandalise it? Should it be provided with extra cctv security? Should a professional security firm be engaged to secure this and other facilities at night? Is the expense of protecting these facilities justified if the community do not engage with the authorities in identifying the hooligans to the police?

All these questions need careful consideration!

August Parish Council meeting - Applegarth play area

A group of residents voiced their concerns that the play area which should have been provided by the developer of the area around Applegarth as part of the conditions laid down when planning permission was granted had become overgrown, heavily fouled by dog faeces and show no sign of the promised play facilities being installed.

This has been a long running problem and the Parish Council have repeatedly asked for East Riding of Yorkshire Council Planning Department to enforce the condition. All this has been fruitless as nothing has resulted from these requests and it was remarked that the ownership of the parcel of land has apparently been transferred to a holding company. Other developments within the village are also incomplete, requiring various works but reportedly companies involved are insolvent.

None of these problems would exist IF the developers had been required to put up a substantial bond before being permitted to release any of the properties for occupation. The East Riding Council should take steps to remedy this situation as a matter of great urgency so that future development within the village does not suffer the same fate with promised facilities failing to be delivered. The failure of ERYC to operate on a sound business basis should not be permitted to penalise individual communities in this manner.

Before the ERYC took over the administration of this region their predecessors, Boothferry District Council, did obtain bonds to cover such works so there is nothing new in the concept, simply a failure of the present administration to protect our community interests.

Continuing Saga of the 2007 Flooding

Our resident self-proclaimed drainage expert and fidi defensor has sent an email to a number of targets attempting to justify his obstructive behaviour relating to the drainage improvement project. Having had a copy passed to me I note a series of disingenuous statements, basic errors and (deliberate?) lack of understanding of the situation.

In his email he has changed the story somewhat from the information he issued to the Goole Times in which he alleged there were two schemes - one "scheme" has become a draft plan based on the grant of £85,000 obtained from EU funds. I recall that at the time this grant was announced he publically stated it was by no means sufficient to provide a complete solution so his complaint that the community now need to contribute seems based on very selective use of the historical information.

The EU funds would have certainly gone a long way towards reopening the filled in or inadequately culverted dykes and left them as open watercourses but would have left these same dykes as vulnerable to interference as before and with erratic levels. To avoid the dykes becoming blocked or restricted again the ERYC did not proceed down this path but carried out proper levels and flow investigation surveys and designed an improved piped system which was put before the parish council. The Parish Council then held consultations with the affected residents of Westbrook Road, Scalby Lane/Greenacre Park/Chestnut Drive and finally, having obtained the agreement of these householders who would be most affected by the works, held a village consultation open day. Without agreement at every step of these consultations the project would not go ahead. The consensus of opinion was in favour so the Parish Council acted swiftly by holding a special meeting to approve application for a low interest rate public works loan and make the loan application.

It was at this meeting that the use of the ring fenced money held by the parish council for memorial hall rebuild was suggested by the individual mentioned above. As a result the concept of ring-fencing, and low interest capital works loans was explained to him. However he chose to ignore this and began issuing misinformation to the public with a number of "loaded" questions as a private consultation.

Following responses via Parish Council leaflets to correct the bizarre claims in the private consultation papers he approached the Goole Times local newspaper to make his case to that newspaper. Before the Goole Times printed the resulting article they asked the Parish Council for comment which did enable the true situation to be included and expose the lies being peddled, with testimony from both the Parish Council and ERYC drainage department that no alternative scheme had ever been drawn up. Subsequent enquiry of the Internal Drainage Board confirms they have no record of any such scheme either. From this it should be evident to all readers that there never was an alternative scheme for the Parish Council to consult upon as claimed, much less that the East Riding Drainage Engineers or the Internal Drainage Board had created one in conjunction with our self-proclaimed drainage expert as he also claimed. Professionally qualified Engineers do not normally take input from unqualified amateurs in any field!

This can only reveal a misguided determination to twist the truth to his own ends.

Village Plans - Controlled Expansion of Gilberdyke

East Riding Council is presently looking into the future growth of the village and the Parish Council asked to comment. As this is a matter which affects all residents to some degree, a parish consultation day is to be held in the Youth centre adjacent to the village Memorial Hall on 5th August from 12 noon to 7 pm. Also for consultation is a proposal to reduce the speed limits in the village.

On a personal level my present thoughts are that the village should grow slowly but on a planned basis to enable efficient use of the land rather than allowing a myriad of piecemeal developments which lead to islands of land becoming "locked" and inaccessible.

At the same time the ERYC Planners need to take proactive steps towards alleviating the traffic problems within the village caused by the location of the present industrial estate and its road access. I think it would be far better to stop further development on the existing site and provide an alternative for industrial expansion to provide local jobs by permitting industrial development to the West of the village where the old A63 (now the B1230) gives a direct connection to the M62. The farmland around that quarter is waterlogged for significant periods thus its loss would not be significant to regional crop yields.

After the 2007 Floods - An uphill battle continues!

Following the 2007 flooding and during the preparation of the Mason Clark Report a number of problems were highlighted. The most significant in terms of cost to the comunity, effort required and resources expended has been the deliberate introduction of the two pieces of 12" pipe by one resident as mentioned in the previous blog article.

Following his discovery and revelation he has waged a virtual war on the Parish Council apparently for having the temerity to question his right to install the pipes in the dyke.

There are a number of pre-existing laws which cover such activity. These include the 1936 public health act, the 1991 land drainage act, the 1994 land drainage act, the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board by-laws and various aspects of Riparian Law. This same individual stated in a letter to the Flood Action Group that he had approached the Drainage Board and been told not to install the pipes but had gone ahead anyway with a home brewed and inadequate scheme hidden away out of sight behind his house. A disaster waiting to happen and happen it did in June 2007.

At various times subsequently he has claimed he (a) does own the dyke, (b) that he does not own the dyke, and (c) that someone else (anyone but him it seems) should pay for its maintenance.

After the County Council Engineers had designed a drainage improvement scheme and the Parish Council carried out wide consultation within the community (which showed overwhelming support for the project), following which a low interest, capital project, public works was taken out by the council and Mason-Clark Consulting Engineers engaged to oversee the works. This same individual is still attempting to derail the project by issuing leaflets containing blatant lies about the design process and fundamental misrepresentations about the finances. He writes to the press but runs to hide behind the Information Commissioners Office with spurious complaints when his name appears in public in responses to correct the lies he circulated. The false accusations simply add to council administration costs and achieve nothing except delay.

A view of two 12" pipes installed as an amateur culvert in the critical dyke between Scalby Lane and Chestnut Drive. Note that a 3 foot diameter council installed culvert lies upstream of this. Simple junior school mathematics show a 3 foot pipe to have a cross section area of 7.1 square feet - a 12" pipe has a cross section area of only 0.78 square feet. This is one of the deliberate bottlenecks of the critical dyke. Further downstream the dyke has not been desilted for thirty years and other bottlenecks also exist through this neglect. Until the early 1980s the Lower Ouse Drainage Board maintained this dyke on a voluntary basis but abandoned this and the dyke has become silted and obstructed since that time.

A glass half full rather than one half empty

I try to always look on the bright side of life as in the Monty Python song. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.
I work with other members of the community of Gilberdyke to maintain or improve conditions where I can. My philosophy is that to achieve change you have to stand up and be counted.
I am a current member of the Parish Council and was for a while the chairman of Giberdyke Flood Action Group which was set up by the Parish Council following the June 2007 floods to determine why the village suffered so heavily. I worked with other members of the Flood Action Group, the Parish Council and Mason Clark Consultant Engineers to determine where the problems lay and press for remedial action to the appropriate authorities.
A report was produced and used to "persuade" the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board to desilt the main drainage dykes between the village and the River Ouse (previously last done in early 1980s), also the Parish Council forwarded the report to East Riding of Yorkshire Council and requested that body to take effective action to clear the drainage systems within the village.
A major part of the problems within the village were attributable to failure of Riparian owners to maintain (regularly cleanse) the dykes adjacent or within their properties, Deliberate infilling of some of these dykes and unauthorised culverting using totally inadequate pipe sizes. The solution to this should be simple you would think? Sadly one or two of those individuals who had directly contributed to the problems have spent the period from the discovery of the obstructions in challenging the proposed remedial works at every opportunity and throwing sand in the gears.