Open Meeting on Flooding and Water Pressure

Thames Water to make presentation on local system

On open meeting on the local water system is being held this Wednesday 16th November at St. Mary's Church, Acton High Street. The meeting begins at 7.30pm and is open to the general public.

A presentation will be made by Thames Water on key messages for the local area. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion after the presentation.

Present will be the members of the Flooding and Water Pressure Panel whose members are Councillors Woodgate (Chair), Portwood (Vice Chair), Brown, Crawford, Malcolm, Sumner, Wicks

Ealing Council is currently in dispute with Thames Water over costs they have incurred in relation to the persistent flooding that has taken place in the Acton area. The Acton Area Committee meeting taking place on Wednesday 23rd November will be presented with a report on the matter which is sharply critical of Thames Water's tardiness in resolving the problem.

Church Road has been subject to flooding with sewage on 22 occasions since July 2004. At times, the area has been flooded to a depth of approximately 18" inches. Cars were submerged to "window height", and suffered consequent damage. The Council has incurred considerable expenditure in cleaning up the Council owned land affected by the incidents, estimated at a minimu of £50,000.

The flooding invariably occurred after heavy rain. Even quite short, but heavy/intense storms were sufficient to bring it on. The Council report is very critical of Thames Water's response to the problem saying they were slow to initiate investigations or report back on the finding of surveys and failed to appreciate the seriousness of the problem.

Eventually Thames Water identified a blockage, believed to be a partial collapse of the pipe, in a trunk sewer in Avenue Road, and very promptly commenced works to excavate and resolve this. The works took several weeks, and as the sewer was approximately 4 metres below the surface of the public highway, access was difficult. When the sewer was reached and opened, a “mass of drag-rope” was found in the sewer and removed; this immediately improved the flow in the sewer.

These works have now been completed. There is confidence that the works, including the removal of the drag rope – will have resolved the problem, and there have been periods of heavy rain which have not resulted in flooding.

Ealing Homes have arranged for the area to be decontaminated by washing down; the cumulative cost to the Council of this exercise to date is £30,000. Initially this amount was billed to the leaseholders of flats in the area, but after protests the Council agreed to pursue Thames Water for payment. Thames Water have been asked to refund this (whether they have a legal duty to do so is unclear). Ealing Homes are considering litigation to recover these costs if Thames Water do not make reimbursement on a voluntary basis. A formal complaint with supporting documents and photographs was made on behalf of Ealing Council, to WaterVoice, the public arm of OfWat. The action taken by Water Voice was not felt to be effective or as prompt as was appropriate in the light of the severity and impact of the incidents on local residents, and so the Director General of OfWat has been approached, and has become involved.

November 15, 2005