‘Marooned by road works, flooding and closures’
People living in Barnham have been left ‘practically marooned’ by flooding and road closures, a resident has said.
Significant traffic disruption was reported in the area after a sewer collapsed.
A Southern Water spokesperson last week said: “Our teams are repairing a collapsed sewer at Barnham Road which has resulted in a full road closure. This repair is proving to be difficult due to further issues we have encounteredincludingavoidunder the road which means this work maytakesometimetocomplete. We’re very sorry for the disruption this is causing.”
Southern Water said it would be discussing traffic arrangements with bus company Stagecoach following the closure of Barnham Road and recognised theworkswerehavinganimpact on people in the area.
Locals have reportedly been told that the incident may not be resolved ‘until at least March’.
The collapsed sewer is the latest issue the area has faced. Homes in Marshall Close were flooded during Storm Ciarán in November and Southern Water teams are also relaying a sewer at Elm Grove. These works are ‘longer-term’ and are expected to run until the end of February.
Barnham resident Jonathan Wright said: “Whilst the collapse of the main sewer in Barnham Road is evidently due to heavy goods vehicles and general lack of maintenance, this is certainly not the only contributor to the current situation we face here.
“The burden on the environment has taken its toll by way of flooding as a result of building on the natural drainage water courses. The above has now reached a critical pitch whereby Barnham is now practically marooned by road works, flooding and closures, prompting diversions on roads not fit to take the weight of traffic involved.”
Southern Water said the company was working with the local council ‘following wider flooding issues’ in the area ‘since the impact of Storm Babet and Storm Ciarán’. A spokesperson added: “As part of this we have increased the number of tankers in use to reduce flooding of our sewer network in Barnham and Lidsey. We are sorry for the impact that our work is having in the Barnham area.
“Homes at Marshall Close were flooded during Storm Ciarán, we’re investigating whether any of our assets had any impact on this, however the primary reason for this is the rife next to the homes had burst its banks. We’re continuing to offer support to customers who were impacted.
The spokesperson said Southern Water had been made aware of reports of dead fish at the rife was carring out an investigation.
“We’re investigating this matter and are taking samples, so far we have found no high readings of ammonia (a key pollution indicator) and have found one dead fish,” they added.
"Flooding is a multi-agency issue, with different responsibilities coming from different organisations. Arun District Council is looking at creating a joint flood forum in future to manage these issues in a collaborative way going forward.
“There has been some overload of our sewer system near Lidsey Wastewater Treatment Works although this is subsiding and we’re currently using tankers to manage this.”