Iconic blocked drain now cleaned out and ready for rain

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 15th, 2019

A drain that has been blocked for well over two and a half years has finally been cleaned out.

Yesterday on one of our usual trips to the Guildhall that takes us past the blocked drain on Regent Street we stopped, backtracked and peered down into the newly cleaned drain and then broadcast the good news:

BREAKING NEWS that blocked drain we having been banging on about for years has been CLEARED! 😍 Any local dignitaries free for an official reopening? We can provide ribbon, scissors and some water to symbolically pour…! pic.twitter.com/DIJv3RsVKS

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 14, 2019

Nick replied: “A great day in history. Next you’ll have somebody picking the wheelie bin up.”

Sally added, “What a day to be alive!” and Ryan said the image “Brings a tear to my eye”.

One of the many people who ‘liked’ the tweet was Cllr David A Bithell, who is also the Lead Member for the Environment on Wrexham Council, so we asked him for comment on the momentous news.

Cllr Bithell said: “I am pleased that Wrexham.com are highlighting these issues, our staff do a great job generally and we do have a cyclic programme, you will need to appreciate that there are hundreds of gullies across the county borough that require attention and there will always be occasions we have missed them or they get blocked due to leaf fall or other reasons. Please report to our contact centre on 292989.”

Our love for the drain began in 2016 after a council meeting discussed drains and drainage, with references to localised flooding. The drain itself was causing water to gather, and we looked at the documentation and noted that it really should only be a once in a thousand year event.

Surface water flood here is a once in a thousand years thing, should we build an Ark @wrexhamcbc ? pic.twitter.com/jn3ZqhPRWW

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 19 August 2016

From there our occasional documentation continued on social media, peaking last year during the World Cup when we held a subbuteo game on the grass filled drain, complete with gold world cup:

Live Stream: Tunisia v England – живой поток из заблокированного стока в wrexham ! pic.twitter.com/gcrRtCexQq

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) June 18, 2018

Earlier this month councillors revisited the topic of blocked drains and gullies, and how they contribute to flood risks, with service cuts meaning the risks are increasing. In that meeting report article we have documented our interaction with Wrexham Council on twitter who finally asked for details on the exact location of the drain, and promised it would be looked at. We responded with link to the Spice Girls classic ‘Goodbye’.

A selection of other tweets giving the history of the drain are below:

Transformation of drain to embedded flowerpot seems well underway lucky just in FRMP1in1000 surface flood risk zone pic.twitter.com/QiE8DagaZe

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 17 August 2016

Update on blocked drain from August, today the greenery obscured by more once in 1000 year surface water 🛶 pic.twitter.com/IQSXTtnet8

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 22 February 2017

The drain is getting a good watering to help the growth! pic.twitter.com/xegfVXJp8I

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 2 June 2017

Standing water in usual spots – drain bubbling upwards in Stansty – ‘ours’ performing magnificently too 😎 pic.twitter.com/u3UFqLEp9R

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 11 October 2018

Looks like council might be sorting our fave drain. If cleared all future matches on it will be cancelled. pic.twitter.com/4blFDCFVu5

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) 19 February 2019