Wakefield gears up for wetter weather with extra sweepers and drain crews
Wakefield Council has doubled the number of road sweepers and boosted its drain-cleansing fleet as it steps up preparations for autumn and winter storms.
The council now has 12 mechanical road sweepers operating across the district, up from six, while the number of gully-cleansing vehicles has risen from three to five.
The extra resources come as an unusually dry summer has led to earlier-than-usual leaf fall, with leaves, silt and debris building up on roads and around drainage gullies.
Coun Julian Carter, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said the council was keeping up the pace after a summer of activity.
“We’re putting more resources out on the roads to tackle leaves and help keep our gullies as clear as possible.”
The scale of the task is significant. One road sweeper recently collected more than 26 tonnes of leaves and debris from a five-mile stretch of road in just one week.
Wakefield Council is responsible for maintaining around 67,000 gullies across the district. Under its planned maintenance programme, at least a third are cleaned each year, while known flood hotspots are cleaned twice annually and main roads once a year.
The council says regular sweeping and gully cleaning cannot prevent flooding during extreme weather, but it can help keep the drainage network working as efficiently as possible.
Residents experiencing flooding from a road are urged to call the council’s 24-hour service on 0345 8 506 506.
Non-emergency flooding and drainage problems can also be reported through Wakefield Council’s online service.