Residents in Aldbourne got their chance to speak to Thames Water officials last Monday night about the sewer flooding which has blighted their village for the last four months.
Thames Water is visiting locals whose lives have been disrupted by the latest spate of sewer flooding across the Thames Valley. Last Monday, the 10th of March, local residents were allowed to question Thames Water officials about what the waste water company are doing about the sewage problems in Aldbourne.
The Thames Water spokesperson on the night, Anthony Crawford, said that most of the problems have been caused by the sheer amount of rainfall at the end of last year. He said:
“This time last year our problem was drought. Then we hit May, when we had 200 per cent of the normal rainfall for the month. All thoughts of drought disappeared.
“Then, after a summer which was hardly a summer at all, we had 144 per cent of average rainfall in October and 177 per cent in November.”
Thames Water has been using tankers in Aldbourne to remove the excess sewage. But residents are concerned that this is not fixing the problem and will only work for a certain amount of time. Some say the tankers are as much of a blight in village life as the sewage itself.
Residents have recently formed an action group and want Thames Water and the Environment Agency to solve the problems once and for all. Simon Knighton, the action group’s spokesperson said at the meeting:
“While everyone understands we have the wettest year on record, the sewers have overflowed on average once every four years.
“We would like you to identify solutions. If we know what they are then we can work with you to put them in place.
“We are surprised that your chief executive didn’t write to everyone affected to show you were taking the problem seriously.”