William Eichler 19 October 2016

UK’s first ‘drainspotter’ leaves gnomes as calling cards

A Cornwall resident has photographed thousands of blocked drains in an attempt to prompt councillors into taking urgent action to unblock them.

Bryan Gibson has photographed 15,000 drains and has started leaving garden gnomes to mark the sites. He sends the photos to Cornwall Council.

The council denies having any problem with blocked drains.

‘We do not believe that we have a significant problem with blocked drains, although there have always been, and will always be, times when blockages occur,’ a spokesperson said.

They also point out the council is only responsible for the drainage of public highway surface water.

South West Water is responsible for other types of drainage, such as sewers, and landlords and residents are responsible for private roads.

Black hole spending review image

Black hole spending review

Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, reflects on what the Spending Review means for local government.
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