An Isle of Wight Councillor has accused Southern Water of ‘arrogant complacency’ in failing to address a contributing factor to the bursting of the banks of Lukely Brook that saw residents of Caesars Road in Newport flooded out of their homes on Christmas Eve 2013.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse (Conservative, Newport West) says:
“For three years we’ve been warning that the space under the bridge over Lukely Brook in Caesars Road is inadequate because under the bridge itself there is a large sewerage pipe. On Christmas Eve 2013, rubbish in the Brook, washed down by heavy rain, went under the bridge, was caught by the pipe and added to the build-up of debris which included a traffic cone, a plastic bath, a tricycle, logs, sheets of corrugated iron and vegetation (photo of some of the items attached). The Brook was partially dammed, its levels rose rapidly, it broke its banks upstream and flooded many homes, causing Christmas misery for affected families. Southern Water’s pipe was a major contributory factor to this flood.”
Article continues below this advertisement “After three years’ of campaigning Southern Water finally investigated the sewer properly when Island MP, Andrew Turner, secured the attention of the company’s Chief Executive, Matthew Wright. A CCTV survey and site visit confirmed not only that the sewer is indeed the responsibility of Southern Water, but also that it is completely redundant and serves no useful purpose. Yet in a display of arrogant complacency, Southern Water are now refusing to remove the sewer. This position is completely unacceptable and sentences local families to a risk of a repeat of the Christmas 2013 misery every few years”.
Commenting on the detail of a letter from Mr Wright to Andrew Turner, Cllr Whitehouse says:
“Southern Water is simply wrong to argue that this blockage was an isolated incident. Dedicated local residents are regularly having to unblock the space under the bridge and only recently had to get a large plastic dustbin out from under it. That was a few weeks ago, not back in 2013 as Southern Water wrongly claim. The company just can’t get its facts straight.”
Andrew Turner MP has now offered to convene a meeting to look again at the flooding issue.
Senior representatives from Southern Water, The Environment Agency, the Isle of Wight Council and Newport Parish Council will be invited along with Cllr Julie Jones-Evans and Cllr John Hobart, whose residents were also affected by the floods in 2013 and who have been supporting Cllr Whitehouse’s campaign for action.
Cllr Whitehouse added:
“Local councillors and local residents alike have worked hard with the Island MP and the Environment Agency to secure progress in these matters and it’s galling that Southern Water should now behave so irresponsibly.”
Flood amelioration work delivered by the councillors to date has involved removing and rebuilding the main trash screen over the Brook at Westminster Mill, installation of CCTV cameras, clearing of rubbish dumped on the banks, and the commissioning of a major report from Capita, along with leaflets to residents along the banks of the Brook to remind them of their duties to help keep it flowing and its banks clear of rubbish.
In response, Southern Water have today (Monday) said:
“We’re really sorry to hear that Cllr Whitehouse is unhappy with the decision not to remove a pipe underneath the bridge between Ceasers Road and Wilver Road.
“Our investigation technician has worked closely with an independent engineer to look at how best to tackle this issue.
“At present, the evidence shows removing this redundant pipe would not significantly decrease flooding risk, would prove costly to our customers and cause significant disruption. We explained these findings to Cllr Whitehouse, following a site visit arranged by Southern Water earlier this year.
“Although investigations have shown the flooding in 2013 was due heavy rainfall (a one in 65 year event) we understand this is a very emotive issue and we will continue working with the council and local residents to provide help and support to our customers.
“We are committed to reducing the impact of flooding on the Isle of Wight wherever possible, and have recently invested over £3million in The Strand in Ryde to take 40 properties off the flooding register.
“The root cause of issues in this area are due to people abusing the watercourse. We would urge residents to be responsible when disposing of household objects, as Cllr Whitehouse reports domestic items such as traffic cone, a plastic bath, a tricycle, logs and sheets of corrugated iron have been dumped in the area and made their way into the brook. This can impact both the environment and increase the risk of flooding nearby properties.”.
