Southern Water to act on sewer faults
Action at last after residents complain of back-flow
Hollingbourne residents have been telling anyone who would listen there is a problem with the sewerage system in the village for years.
Now Southern Water has finally conceded they may be right.
A number of residents have experienced a back-flow of sewage into their homes over the years, requiring the water company to jet out the system via a manhole cover in the front garden of a private home in Hasteds.
Now Southern Water has told residents: “remedial works have been identified which should remove the need to undertake maintenance activities at the current level of frequency.”
A spokesman said many of the issues had been caused by fat and grease building up in the sewers and remedial work would be carried out at Hasted.
The company is sending its sewer rehab team to the village on Monday to explain its plans and customer care manager Jean-Paul Collet will be visiting residents.
The foul sewage from Eyhorne Street and much of the village meets under Hasteds before running down the Bourne Valley, underneath the High Speed Railway and the M20 and then connecting with the sewer main on the Ashford Road.
A major concern for the parish council has been that further building in the village could exacerbate the situation and the council has been opposing all new development until sewage and surface water drainage problems have been sorted out.
However, that has not stopped applications coming forward.
Fourteen new homes are under construction by Wealden Homes on Godfrey Meadow, 10 more have been proposed by Fernham Homes nearby in Eyhorne Street.
An application for four homes in Musket Lane was refused, but has gone to appeal.
Southern Water will be at next month’s meeting of the parish council on Monday, June 13, at 7.30pm to explain its plans.
All welcome.