Pode Hole pumping station is working 24 hours a day to help keep south Lincolnshire safe following months of wet weather

Months of wet weather has resulted in the constant operation of a pumping station to ensure our homes and farmland are protected from flooding.

Welland and the Deepings Internal Board say its electric and large diesel pumps at its Pode Hole station have been working 24 hours a day for most of December due to the deluge of rain which has battered South Holland since the start of the autumn.

The drainage board – which covers 32,400 hectares that ranges from Kirton to Peterborough including Spalding and the edge of Stamford – reports that rain fell on 62 out of the last 94 days with October being the wettest for 120 years.

The Pode Hole pumping station, which has three large diesel engines, is able to move vast amounts of water, brought down from the Bourne and Deepings area via three drains, into the Vernatts and it is eventually released into the tidal River Welland at Surfleet and out to sea.

But with more rain forecast in the coming days, staff at the drainage board will be on standby over the festive period – but this highlights the importance of drainage boards to our area.

Operations engineer Nick Morris said: “The wet weather really began in September which received above average rainfall. Since mid September to December 19 we have had rain on 62 days out of a total of 94.

“October was then the wettest October for 120 years according to our records at Pode Hole Pumping Station. We measured 136mm (5.35 inches) of rainfall which is more than two and half-times the expected monthly average.

“November was also a wet month. The ground was by now saturated and surface water run-off had increased leading to an increase in both the volume of water pumped and duration of pumping at all our pumping station sites.

“Since early December, and the continuation of the wet weather, we have been pumping 24 hours a day at Pode Hole Pumping Station with both our diesel and electric pumps.

“Our maintenance programme has been impacted by both the very wet nature of the ground (for our plant and equipment) and also by the re-deployment of our operational team members to staff pumping stations and carry out other duties including watercourse inspections and debris clearance.

“We have staff available and on a standby rota over the Christmas and New Year period to continue to evacuate water from our district and to react to any further rainfall events.”

The funding of internal drainage boards has been brought into sharp focus in recent years due to the spiralling energy costs – with political leaders arguing for a change in how these vital services are financed.

In 2021/13, the IDBs were partially funded by Revenue Support Grant which was given to councils from the Government but that grant has been reduced back and now authorities are having to use money that should be going to providing services such as refuse collections and supporting vulnerable residents.

South Holland is one of a limited number of councils have this financial burden as it is only councils subjected to the levy.

With the levy demand and the annual increase expected to rise again in the next financial year, it means even less money will be available for services through the money collected from council tax.

This year, South Holland’s council tax requirement was £5.870m. Fifty-four per cent of that - £2.624m was the drainage board levy.

For every £10 of council tax, South Holland District Council receives 96p for services. Of that 96p – 53p is having to go to IDBs.

The district council increased council tax bills in April by around 3% earlier this year with all of the additional £300,000 going to fund the drainage boards due to high energy costs.

But in May Lee Rowley, parliamentary under secretary for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, announced a one-off grant of £298,739 for South Holland. The district council says all of this money has been used and fear a total pressure of £611,000 in 2024/25 if no additional support is received from Government.

Coun Paul Redgate, portfolio holder for finance, is chairman of a Local Government Association Special Interest Group which is holding talks with the government about funding.

He said: “We all recognise that the internal drainage boards do fantastic and vitally important work to protect people and businesses at times of flooding. We need them and we need their pumps to keep working to support our district.

“However there needs to be an alternative way to fund the levy to support the drainage boards. Our ability to maintain services and support growth is being significantly eroded by this funding method which is unaffordable and unfair.

“The IDB levy is likely to increase further and continues to significantly impact on the council’s budget, the money we receive from council tax and the services we can then afford to provide.”

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