Frustration with a flooded pathway in Keswick reached a peak after leaving school pupils wet through.
The pathway via Cattle Arch is a popular short-cut for children heading to St Herbert’s Primary School from places such as Windebrowe Avenue and Latrigg Close.
Recently, the long-standing flooding problem on the pathway has got mysteriously worse, leading to several metres underwater – which pupils have to wade through – getting socks and shoes soaking wet.
St Herbert’s headteacher Michael Craig said the school had raised the matter with United Utilities, Cumbria County Council and local councillors.
Mr Craig said: “They are all working hard to ensure that this situation improves and I have every confidence that they will be able to resolve it.”
County councillor Tony Lywood also arranged for a county council engineer to inspect the area and a footpaths officer to visit this week and said the pathway was already looking better. One short-term solution is the county council has agreed to clear a build-up of silt and leaves, and put down a number of sandbags.
A further inspection is planned and will involve a camera being placed down a culvert to explore what’s causing the blockage.
The concern has been that with winter approaching, the pathway would become extremely hazardous if it froze. Mr Lywood said: “Every winter and in times of high rain that area floods and always has, but it seems to have got much worse.”
Cllr Duncan Miller, of Keswick Town Council, said the town council did not have any responsibility for drainage, but had been happy to raise the issue to try and get it fixed.
Mr Miller said: “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of management of that pathway with build-ups of rain and build-ups of leaves, and people are angry about it. In the past there has always been a way through but now there is no way through without getting wet.”
The Keswick Reminder also raised the issues with the county council and the authority was quickly on the scene this week.
A spokesman said: “We are currently investigating a potential blockage to a main culvert in that area which discharges into the River Greta, which we believe to be the main cause. We will be visiting the site again as soon as possible to investigate further using cameras and identify the location of any blockage.
“We’d like to reassure parents and other pedestrians that we are looking into the problem and hope to resolve the issue swiftly.”
Hazel Wainwright, the council’s countryside access officer, said: “Currently there is no easy way to get rid of the water and we are limited to managing it as best we can for now.”
She said an area would be cleared on Wednesday to “hopefully reduce the depth” during heavy rain. “We will also provide some sandbags to try and block the dips where water is flowing through onto the path from the school field, unfortunately this will probably mean slightly increased flooding depth on the field but this is just a temporary measure to try and reduce the flooding on the path until the drainage can be sorted.”
