York woman gashes head slipping on mud left behind by mains burst – four weeks ago
A York woman suffered a gash to her head after slipping on mud left behind when a water mains burst more than four weeks ago.
An urgent clean-up was underway today after a councillor intervened to say to both City of York Council and Yorkshire Water: “It’s just not good enough”.
The woman was walking her dog in the garden area behind Balfour Street on Tuesday when the incident happened.
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Sharing what happened in a Facebook group, she said: “I slipped on mud that has been left behind from the burst water mains that has never been cleaned up.”
She banged her head on the concrete, suffering a big cut which had to be glued together in A&E. She also suffered with concussion and had to take unpaid time off work.
Flashback to the flooding on Salisbury Road. Photograph: David Dunning
It was back on Sunday 19 July when a water main ruptured at the corner of Salisbury Terrace and Balfour Street, flooding nearby streets.
Because it was a such a major breach it took some time to fix. But neither the council nor Yorkshire Water washed away the muddy residue around the park.
Yesterday, Holgate ward councillor Kallum Taylor wrote a strongly-worded email to both organisations saying an immediate clean-up was required.
Work to remove the mud. Photograph: YorkMix
When YorkMix visited the park today, a team from City of York Council was washing down the ginnel next to the park.
Cllr Taylor told us: “Following the burst pipe incident Yorkshire Water and the council worked well to quickly sort out a replacement bus, rearrange bin collections, and re-open the road quickly.
“But the approach to cleaning up all of the affected area has been unclear, patchy, and far too slow.
“It is such a basic ask for a residential area to be made safe and clean after flooding – yet both organisations have a way of making it feel like it’s asking the Earth.
“Now we’ve had a bit of rain, people have inevitably slipped over the sludge that remains many weeks after the event, and in some cases been badly hurt.
Cllr Kallum Taylor. Photograph: Supplied
“They often publicly talk about partnership working but privately there’s an obvious lack of ownership, poor communication, and disagreement over who’s responsible for what – while in the meantime, residents have paid the price.”
Council leader Claire Douglas said: “First and foremost, I’m really sorry to hear about the resident who was injured and I wish her a speedy recovery. I completely agree with Cllr Taylor. He is absolutely right to stand up for his residents and demand action.
“This is just the latest in a series of incidents involving Yorkshire Water which have caused significant disruption for communities across York. Residents rightly expect far better from their water company.
“I met with Yorkshire Water only last week and made it very clear that we need to see a much better service for residents across York. The disruption we have seen recently simply isn’t good enough.
“It is particularly frustrating that the council is having to step in and incur costs cleaning up following failures involving Yorkshire Water’s infrastructure. That is money which should be going towards council services for York residents.
“Yorkshire Water needs to take responsibility, get this area properly cleaned up and made safe, and ensure residents and the council aren’t left picking up the pieces.”
We’ve asked Yorkshire Water for a response.
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