‘Years of neglect’ has led to flooding
Moneyrow Green: Residents hit out at Thames Water
A group of Moneyrow Green residents have complained of ‘years of neglect’ from the Royal Borough and Thames Water after suffering a series of floods.
They claim that two Thames Water pipes are inadequately sized and have been ‘putting residents’ lives in danger’ and causing ‘heart-breaking’ water damage.
The residents say the pipe causes the manholes and gullies to overflow whenever the level of surface water gets to be too much.
They say there have been two incidents of severe property flooding in October and January, leading to temporary homelessness for some households.
“I’m fearful every time we
have heavy rain and I have to pump water into the roads in an attempt to protect my home,” said resident Dennis Webb.
“To say I am frustrated and dumbfounded is an understatement.”
The group have asked Thames Water to review, upgrade and maintain its pipe network and to compensate residents for the damage caused.
They are asking the Royal Borough to hold Thames
Water to account and to urgently clear ditches, culverts, gullies and drains of debris and tree roots.
A council spokesman said: “The council is undertaking an investigation with the Environment Agency and
Thames Water to identify the likely causes of the flooding.
“The investigation will be appropriate to the scale and nature of the flooding incident.
“We responded to reports of flooding on January 28 and liaised with our contractors, the Environment Agency and Thames Water to assess, take action and monitor the situation in the Moneyrow Green area and across the borough over the following week. We also provided information for residents.”
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We’re working hard to keep our sewer network
operating as normal following the very heavy rain and storms this winter which has led to groundwater levels being very high.
“We’ve also used CCTV to inspect the sewers in Moneyrow Green and found no defects, indicating the high groundwater is most certainly the root cause of the flooding.
“Sewers are designed to carry high volumes of water,
but occasionally rainfall is so severe it can overwhelm the system forcing wastewater up through manholes in streets and gardens.
“We always offer to clean and disinfect areas impacted by the sewer flooding and we’re carrying out regular sewer cleaning on the network serving Moneyrow Green as part of a planned maintenance programme.”