Selsey resident raises concern for children over road floods

A Selsey resident has raised concerns over road floods by Seal Primary School. Picture by Nicky Jones

A Selsey resident has raised concerns for the wellbeing of both children and road users on a ‘dangerous’ road where young students have to ‘wade through water’.

Selsey resident Nicky Jones raised her concerns for the wellbeing of students at Seal Primary School following recent flooding on the East Street Car Park leading to Lewis Road.

She said: “Repeatedly, the children of Seal Primary Academy are having to wade through water in order to get to school. The stretch of road concerned is from the East Street car park, the only place where parents can park, and continues right around to Lewis Road.

“Already a dangerous stretch of road, water frequently builds so that it covers not only the entire expanse of the road but also floods up and onto the path too. Parents were carrying their children to wade through the water in the hope of keeping their trousers from soaking up to the hilt.

“The school has tried to get the issue resolved through the council - who routinely send someone out to clear away the leaves rather than address the problem of the drain itself, which is clearly inadequate.

“My concern is that especially those parents who have wheel chairs and push chairs alongside small children to take to school, are having to make their children walk through the water.

"We are then expecting them to sit soaking wet at school and to still learn? I just feel we are doing our children such a disservice and wonder what we can do to sort the problem once and for all. Surely, our children deserve better.

“That the problem is also causing widespread problems for cars down the road also makes the walkway all the more dangerous for those using it.”

In response to the issue, a spokesperson for Chichester District Council said that their car parks team who look after the car park were ‘not aware of any flooding issues.’

In a statement, a spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “We currently believe the flooding occurs when capacity of the local drainage system is overwhelmed.

"We will be cleansing the local highway system as a priority to try to ensure it is functioning as efficiently as possible. Further measures will be considered, if required.