Sunniside has, for decades, been suffering localised flooding. Before the village was built in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was agricultural land (much of it was my grandfather's farm). Most of the village has been built on a slope and given the increasing incidents of heavy rainfall and the increase in hard standing, the drains are no longer capable of dealing with the amount of water therefore causing floods.
I'm pleased to report that Northumbrian Water and Gateshead Council have a plan to tackle the flooding by reducing the amount of hardstanding, adding drainage to the field in the centre of Sunniside, creating a pond to collect excess water at the bottom of Hole Lane and adding in more drainage pipes.
Work will start soon to install the system but a public consultation has been carried out. A display of the plans was held in Sunniside Club recently. I called in with my ward colleague Marilynn Ord and had extensive discussions with the engineers who were present. Let's hope the improvements fully address the flooding problems that Sunniside has had to endure.
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