An open watercourse between houses at a residential close in Wyesham is causing concern for homeowners who see the banks eroding and taking away part of their gardens each year.

One resident at The Paddocks in particular, whose garden runs the whole length of the open stream is 85-year-old Tony Punchard who is concerned that more of his garden each year is lost to the stream and some of the foundations to his property may now be under threat.

Five houses bordering the opposite bank have seen their gardens fall into the stream as well and have been forced to move their boundary fences back as the ground falls away.

Paddocks’ residents Huw and Tess Edwards have brought Tony’s plight to MS Peter Fox after he had received a letter in March 2020 from Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) saying the bank his side, under riparian law, was his property and it was his duty to clear the bank to keep a free flow of water.

Tess and Huw were concerned that 85-year-old Tony’s attempts to clear the bank put him in a dangerous situation as the culvert is 10 feet deep in places and he did fall once trying to clear some of the debris from the bank.

In January 2021, MCC wrote to Tony again requesting he remove a stump from his bank: they offered to do the work for him for £170 plus vat.

Residents see the amount of water that comes out of there through wintertime as especially concerning as there is a real danger of someone getting into trouble.

One of the original residents of the Paddocks said that this stream was culverted when houses for the residential close were first built, but not taken right to the bottom.

Discussions with Welsh Water, MCC and others has recognised there is a significant issue there. Although it is claimed that the ditch ownership sits with the riparian owners, the council has acknowledged the potential impact of the ditch, in its current condition, on drainage infrastructure further down the system. Surveys have been carried out with a view to bid for WG grant funding, which is not available until next year.

Tess added, “We have been reasonable and written to Peter Fox MS who has been helpful, but to find out that we will have to wait for another year before funding is even applied for is appalling.

“This is a large engineering project which needs to be sorted out as a matter of urgency and we need MCC to see this. None of the residents have the expertise, the machinery, the funds or the knowledge to solve this issue”.

She believes the riparian ownership law cannot apply in this case as the waterway has been altered upstream and downstream and it is polluted from an unknown source

A spokesperson for Monmouthshire County Council said: “We are aware of the collapse and carrying out studies with a view of seeking funding for an improvement scheme.

“The riparian owners are responsible for the failed embankment, however if funding can be found then the council might be able to help with moving this on and provide a land drainage scheme to protect residents in the future.”