Residents of Nicholas Close in Brading are battling the after-effects of the recent adverse weather, with 1 elderly couple set to spend Christmas in a hotel as their house has flooded for the 2nd time this year. Whilst almost everyone on the residential cul-de-sac has been the victim of the recent adverse weather, for Michael and Christine Cooper it has been a year of hell with the couple enduring not 1 but 2 floods, and a serious fire. Michael and Christine moved to the area back in 2018, but they have spent the past 12 months bouncing around between local B&Bs and hotels. It was back in November 2022 that their garage caught fire after an electrical fault occurred, thought to be as a result of previous water damage. The garage was completely lost with the couple having to escape out of the rear of their house as the flames engulfed their outbuilding and everything inside it. 
Michael and Christine spent their 50th wedding anniversary at the hotel and will now spend Christmas 2023 there too, footing the bill until they are reimbursed by their insurance provider. What’s more, they have lost their furniture and prized possessions. Michael has told Island Echo:
“We have lost some very sentimental personal items. Seeing the workers pick up these damaged items that you recognise and used to love and then dumping them in a skip is horrible. “What didn’t get lost in the fire got lost in the flood, it’s that simple”.
Compounding the misery, the nearby Southern Water pumping station has also flooded out and, as a result, sewage is leaking onto the property. To clear up some of the mess at Nicholas Close, Southern Water has deployed 5 tankers – at a cost of around £6,000 per day – that are working to suck up dirty water and transfer it onto Sandown Wastewater Treatment Works. 
Residents say several problems have caused the flooding including ageing infrastructure, poor irrigation and silt build-up. One of the biggest issues is said to be the sluice gates at nearby Bembridge, which are intermittently closed to allow the area to flood so that birds and other wildlife can prosper. However, Brading residents say that such a decision means that the levels on Brading Marshes are higher than they should and, when it rains heavily, there is simply nowhere for the water to go. Local resident Josephine George has said:
“When are they going to open up the flood gates at Bembridge? “We have had tankers pumping away water for 5 days now, 24/7. Despite the hard work and long hours put in by the engineers, it has made little difference. It has only stopped sewage from going into the houses. “The only way the waters will subside is if the flood gates are opened at Bembridge during the hours of outgoing tides. This was proven back in 2013 when the gates were eventually opened after being requested by the fire brigade. “We have been told by the powers that be that the residents in Bembridge do not want the gates opened for fear of flooding. However, any waters released will flow out directly into the harbour so this excuse is nonsense. The only other people stopping the gates being opened are the RSPB. People must come first. “We are at our wits end”.
Half-hearted attempts have been made to improve the situation at Nicholas Close in the past, but none have worked. Michael has said:
“In 2021, the Environment Agency were looking to install flood measures like air bricks and specialised doors. They came round and quoted how much it would cost to protect the houses in the area. It was around £10,000 for most, but ours was £19,000.”
Caroline Oatley, who lives next door to the Coopers, has said:
“In all the years I’ve been living here its never been this bad. We know it is susceptible to flooding, but its never been so bad its come up from my toilet. “I couldn’t use my own bathroom, my drain was full and the toilet was making a gurgling sound.”
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“Unless something drastic is done, the future is looking very dim. We can’t sell the house. Sometimes it gets you down, but you have to stay optimistic. We’ve got to believe it’s going to get better. “The staff at the hotel have looked after us so well, I can’t fault them. They are really accommodating and look after me and my family.”
Residents of Nicholas Close have a meeting this Wednesday which is due to be attended by Councillor Jonathan Bacon. It is hoped that key stakeholders such as Southern Water and the Environment Agency will also be able to attend as all parties look to find a solution once and for all… Residents of Nicholas Close have spoken to Island Echo before after flooding in the Summer of 2021 caused damage to their gardens.
