'We cannot live like this': Cornwall flood victim calls for more to be done
A woman whose historic cottage has been flooded three times this week has said “we cannot live like this”
A woman whose historic cottage has been flooded three times this week has said “we cannot live like this”.
Jennie Spicer, who lives at Bessy Beneath Cottages at Ruan High Lanes on the Roseland Peninsula, is desperate for the authorities to get to the root of the flooding problem caused by heavy rain overwhelming the drainage system.
Her family are currently living in temporary accommodation due to the number of floods affecting her 17th century property, which is is allegedly named after a local highway woman who was mortally wounded when the cottage was an inn. Local history says she is buried beneath the house.
Mrs Spicer’s home has been flooded five times since 2023, with three of those incidents happening just this week.
The first flood in September 2023 saw the family having to vacate the property for nine months and they have now been forced to move out again.
This week’s torrential rain saw the cottage flooded on Monday (January 26) causing yet more damage following another flood in August last year. It happened again last night and again this morning (Friday, January 30).
Mrs Spicer has contacted her local councillor Julian German, Jayne Kirkham MP, Veryan Parish Council, Cornwall Highways and us as she now at the end of her tether.
“My husband and son battled the elements for three hours on Monday night before giving up and leaving the house. On Tuesday we couldn’t get in.
“How do we protect ourselves from this? The water is at least 18 inches high in our back garden.”
She added: “I have reported these drains three times since Christmas, they are constantly covered in a layer of compacted mud. Then there’s the added problem that the drains are not functional. The drains need CCTV inspection and remedy.
“We are constantly having to report the drains even though the council say they are fully functional.
“We cannot live like this, we haven’t had a home in two years as we keep getting displaced by flood water and are currently in temporary accommodation.”
Mrs Spicer said despite a representative of Cornwall Highways saying the drains had been cleared this morning, they were overflowing again half an hour later.
She has contacted her MP, Jayne Kirkham, who she says is requesting a CCTV investigation by the council.
A council spokesperson said: “There is a history of flooding issues at the location, caused by flood water running off the fields in the area, overwhelming the drainage system, which is designed to cope with the rainfall catchment from the highway alone.
“The drains have been cleaned and are functioning as expected in the conditions.
“We have reported the issue to colleagues in the Environment Agency’s land management team who consider overland exceedance flows with landowners and they will investigate the matter with the relevant landowner in due course.”