WATCH: Highland councillor says Cloverfield Park flooding in Inverness is 'utterly disgraceful'
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A Highland councillor is 'appalled' as residents in an Inverness street have endured severe flooding that has been ruining their homes for the past 17 years.
During the weekend residents in Cloverfield Park were flooded again, with their roads and houses leaking due to the torrential rainfall.
Inverness South councillor Ken Gowans has been working alongside the families involved for over 10 years and is 'appalled' that the problem still hasn't been resolved.
He said: "Scottish Water only agreed to fix this properly about two years ago and that was once they had an agreement with the original developer who agreed to fund it, but I think what they're trying to do now is mitigate any losses or costs that they may have since the developer died.
"So, instead of going in and fixing the whole thing, they perhaps thought that they didn't need to do the sub-tanks, when in fact evidence has shown that they do."
Cllr Gowans has been pressing Scottish Water to fix the problem, however in the meantime all the residents have had to put up with damage following heavy rain.
He continued: "The responsibility is down to Scottish Water now and the ball is very firmly in their court, that's why I will be lobbying them to come in and fix this once and for all."
Some of the residents have said they are 'heartbroken' over the situation as it is 'soul destroying' to see their homes severely damaged each year.
One resident said: "Most years we have had to do the redecoration ourselves due to the damage, but we have just had enough! This is costing us too much in the long run and it needs to be dealt with."
Scottish Water has been made aware of the current circumstances and has urged people to put forward a formal complaint to allow the case to be investigated.
A spokesperson for Scottish Water said: “We know that any experience of flooding is disruptive and distressing for customers. Whenever customers are affected by flooding that they believe is linked to Scottish Water infrastructure, especially if they are affected within their homes, we would urge them to contact us as soon as possible so that our team can offer practical assistance and investigate.
“The surface water drainage system that serves Cloverfield Park was transferred into Scottish Water’s ownership and care in January 2022. Before that date, the system remained formally the responsibility of the developer that installed it.
“Following the concerns raised with us by residents, we are investigating the situation to confirm whether the surface water drainage system is functioning as intended.
"Access to the system has proven to be challenging, but we are working to resolve this. Any man-made drainage system has a finite capacity and can unfortunately be overwhelmed in the most severe weather events, but if the drainage system is found not to be functioning to its designed capacity, we will promote work to remedy this.”
Whilst the issue has been reported, some residents are worried that winter might bring further problems.
After last weekend's downpour, residents have 'had enough' and some are 'worried sick' every time a weather warning is announced.
