The chair of Alsager Town Council has called on Cheshire East to arrange a meeting with five landowners "as a matter of urgency" to resolve a "serious" flooding issue.

Speaking at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Cllr Rod Fletcher, leader of the Liberal Democrats, highlighted that there had been a "significant amount" of flooding on Linley Lane, Alsager, under the railway bridge in recent years.

Cllr Fletcher said: "Linley Lane is a busy A-road which has had to be closed when flooding takes place. More recently a nearby property has been flooded three times in 18 months.

"Network Rail are now expressing concerns about the stability of the railway embankment if flooding continues."

Nub News recently reported that an Alsager couple who are currently staying in a holiday home having endured a flooding nightmare at their idyllic cottage for the last 18 months, were at their "wits end".

Christine, 72, and Luther Turner, 67, had four and a half "idyllic" years in their Slate Cottage, on Linley Lane, Alsager.

But since 7th November 2019, a flooding nightmare has "taken all the joy out of their lives".

The cause of the flooding was located on the other side of the highway - a blocked culvert and pipework on adjoining land, which the couple thought was owned by Sainsbury's, the former Twyford Bathrooms site, on Lawton Road, which is being developed by Wainhomes.

advertisement

According to Cllr Fletcher, the land in question was purchased 20 years ago by Lagan (Alsager) Ltd, a firm based in Northern Ireland, who have now sold the land onto four different owners.

Stephen Bell, director of Lagan (Alsager) Ltd, previously stated the majority of the lands on the former Twyfords site were sold off a number of years ago to Sainsbury's, Wainhomes, Moorfield and the care home operator (Lovett Care), who own Twyford House.

Lagan recently claimed that they were only advised about the flooding by Cheshire East in February.

Cllr Fletcher added: "If this is true, why did the council take so long to advise this firm [Lagan]."

The Alsager ward councillor asked the council as a "matter of urgency" to arrange a meeting with all five landowners at the same time to "solve this serious flooding issue".

Cllr Fletcher highlighted that all five of the landowners had previously claimed that the flooding issues were not their responsibility, so he felt the best course of action moving forward would be for Cheshire East to have a meeting with all parties.

Speaking at Cabinet, Cllr Laura Crane, portfolio holder for highways and waste, said she would provide Cllr Fletcher with a written response.

Nub News has contacted Cheshire East for comment.