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Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Trevor Maroney (9th Jul 2015 - 11:17:54) The next EHDC community forum will be held in the Millennium Centre on Monday 20th July at 6.30 pm when the subject will be Liphook's Drains. Thames Water will be present to answer questions. You will recall that representatives from Thames Water were on hand during the two day exhibition of the Parish Plan last November. Now is your opportunity to press them on flooding, particularly down Longmoor and Midhurst Roads, Tunbridge Lane and Griggs Green plus, I am sure, many other areas. And on the burning issue of whether or not the existing drainage system will cope with all the planned additional housing. There was also a technical meeting with Thames Water, business and group representatives and parish councillors on these issues last November. The minutes from that meeting, which you may find useful to read before the meeting, will be posted on the News Page of the Parish Plan at www.liphookplan.co.uk

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Dawn Hoskins (9th Jul 2015 - 16:40:55) I hope all the people who have human sh*t surging up on the pavements outside their homes turn up - that should be lively!!!! Maybe you should flyer the houses that are particularly affected so they can all attend and tell Thames Water how unacceptable that is.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - GM (10th Jul 2015 - 11:26:19) Thanks Trevor I haven't looked at the minutes yet but have there been surveys and investigations into the existing drainage network to at least give some answers to the local residents as to why this has been happening?

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Trevor Maroney (10th Jul 2015 - 11:52:17) Dear GM No. Such surveys, which Thames Water acknowledge need doing, costs money. However I believe that it's an essential part of maintaining the existing system. They seemed more focused on the successful developers to ensure that the very old drainage system will take the extra waste. All the people that live at the bottom end of the existing drain runs know it just floods out of the manhole covers when it rains heavily. We can only conclude that some houses within the village have connected their storm drains to the foul system. Thames Water are willing to find out where such illegal connections exist and prosecute the owners however they are unwilling to pay for the survey. Naturally it becomes a vicious circle which makes it extremely frustrating for those suffering at the bottom end.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - GM (10th Jul 2015 - 15:30:21) Thanks for the quick response, your term "bottom end" couldn't be more apt given the situation! It's a vicious circle I agree. However, and I don't live there now, I used to live next to said foul manhole cover that spews out all sorts of nastys periodically. It's been an issue for 20 or so years which has gradually become more frequent so I'd be interested to see what gets said. I'll be there! Thanks Trevor

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Trevor Maroney (14th Jul 2015 - 14:15:04) I should perhaps add that there are several 'bottom ends.' The village has a series of small pumping stations lifting the waste to the next level. So several houses are affected in different areas. I understand that currently there is a sewage tanker servicing the pumping station on Longmoor Road which presumably cannot cope with the current flow or is being repaired. Interestingly these tanker runs are taking place just before the meeting. How this very old and small drainage (6" pipe) run will manage when the Lowsley Farm houses are built is anyone's guess. What I would say to all residents is that those affect by flooding do need your help and support at Monday night's meeting. We do need independent consultants to survey the existing system and produce a report identifying what steps needs be done to make the whole system sustainable and protects all of us from flooding. So please turn up for the meeting and demand that EHDC implement this drainage study.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Anderw (14th Jul 2015 - 16:05:33) I wonder how many people realise what goes into the 6 inch pipe at Griggs Green where the tanker is running. Apart from all the housing, it also has Old Thorns, Champneys Forest Mere which is pumped across the common to Old Thorns and also Longmoor camp which Thames water admit to not knowing what is being produced from there as it is Military. As they are going to dig up the old Longmoor Road and put in a new watermain would it not be an ideal time to put a larger sewer run in as well. I doubt this will happen as two major companies talking to each other is to easy a thing to do.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Joanna Elliott (16th Jul 2015 - 09:17:16) This is EAST HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL'S PRESS RELEASE: Can the drains take the strain? Community Forum, Liphook Will new housing developments place too much strain on the drains? That’s the question to be tackled at the next Community Forum held in Liphook. With a significant amount of development planned for the future some residents have voiced concerns about the sewerage system and its ability to handle the increasing demands placed upon it as new homes are built in the area. Thames Water, which takes waste water, will attend the meeting to be held at Liphook Millennium Hall on Monday 20 July to discuss their service and their plans for the future. Cllr Yvonne Parker Smith, chairman of the area’s Community Forum, said the meeting was a perfect opportunity for residents to get answers on the issue. “I hope that through this meeting we will be able to discuss our concerns with Thames Water and help them understand the issues in this area,” she said. “We are very grateful they have sent representatives to speak with us and I would urge local residents to take this opportunity and hear what they have to say.” The meeting will be held at Liphook Millennium Hall, 2 Ontario Way, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7LD, from 6.30pm. CONTACT: Will Parsons, EHDC Communications Officer, 01730 234030

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Paul Robinson (16th Jul 2015 - 09:41:51) Thames Water (two vanloads) were in attendance yesterday afternoon at a suppurating, and distinctly 'niffy,' overflowing drain in Tower Road that was gushing all down London Road. Paul Robinson

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Trevor Maroney (16th Jul 2015 - 11:36:15) Monday night (20th) at 6.30 pm in the Millennium Centre. If you really care about improving the village infrastructure, particularly its drains, you do need to be at this meeting and make your voice heard. This may be our one and only chance to make EHDC pay for a study into the drainage system before all this additional housing is built. I have been round the areas where major flooding has occurred and spoken again to some of those badly affected. I would just like to highlight some of the problems faced by the few and what has happened after these were reported to the authorities over 4 years ago: Longmoor Road. Raw sewage is frequently flooding into gardens and almost into the houses. It was prevented from entering by one owner digging a sump into his patio, buying a small electric pump and when flooding occurred diverting it onto his drive where it ran down onto the Longmoor Road and entered the storm drains. Thames Water have investigated and, much to my astonishment, have installed an alarm in the nearby manhole to warn the owner of imminent flooding giving him time to fit the pump. Unfortunately the chime is identical to his doorbell leaving him with the dilemma of either seeing who is at the door or polluting the environment yet again, and again. Longmoor Road. In an earlier posting I referred to of use of tankers on Longmoor Road. Having spoken to Thames Water I understand that to increase capacity they do install holding tanks on overloaded sewers. These hold the waste during the day and release it overnight when demand is low. The use of a tanker would perhaps indicate a fault with the holding tank’s pump – Thames Water are currently establishing what’s happening – the presence of the holding tank acknowledges that the existing 6” diameter pipe is insufficient to cope with current demand let alone the future flow from yet more housing. Portsmouth Road. The graphic pictures showing raw sewage running down Portsmouth Road posted earlier this year may have been caused by a similar situation with a holding tank. Hopefully this will be clarified by Thames water on Monday. Midhurst Road. You will recall the shock and horror of the deep flooding on the Midhurst Road just south of the railway bridge 4 years ago. What was not highlighted quite as much was a blockage on the sewage system from the Berg at about the same time. Residents on Midhurst Road, whose gardens were covered in raw sewage, were informed by Thames Water that the 6’” drain could not cope. The village drainage system was clearly not designed to cope with all this additional housing. Tunbridge Lane. Many of you living in Bramshott are well away that during heavy rains Church Lane becomes as stream which pools at the bottom of the hill flooding through nearby houses and down their gardens to the River Wey. This problem was brought to Cllr. Ferris Cowper’s attention 4 years ago. HCC Highways Department looked into it and concluded that during storms the drain outlet to the river is submerged thereby blocking the flow. Almost 2 years ago Cllr. Cowper was reminded of the problem and he stated that a resilience drainage project at the top of Church and Rectory Lanes would solve the problem; it has not and the residents are still suffering. Solutions have been put forward but nothing has happened. Those suffering flood damage need your help in convincing HCC Highways Department to fix this problem. Tower Road. I need add little on the current problems on Tower Road highlighted above. I am NOW convinced that any study conducted into our ‘under strain drains’ should be conducted by independent drainage consultants rather than Thames Water. The issues I have highlighted are perhaps just the tip of an iceberg as residents from Griggs Green to the Berg will no doubt confirm. We really do need to hammer this point home to EHDC. More Housing without putting the infrastructure right will only make matters worse. Finally, I would like to address those of you who are commuters; I, too, was a commuter until 3 years ago. We all know that the extra burden of travelling to and from work makes our lives seem that much busier. So much so that we have little time for anything else. Why not take a break this Monday, come home early and make your voice heard? It’s time to making a different and start putting things right. Cllr. Trevor Maroney Chairman BLPP

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Trevor Maroney (19th Jul 2015 - 10:06:08) This key infrastructure meeting takes place tomorrow night (20th July) in THE MILLENNIUM CENTRE AT 6.30 PM. We need as many of you as possible to attend and show solidarity with the few who are currently suffering from sewage and rain water entering their houses, polluting their gardens and flowing down our streets. It's an issues that needs to be urgently addressed before any more housing developments are approved. If we do not get an independent drainage study how will we be able to convince EHDC that other essential, infrastructure studies are required into such things as traffic congestion, parking, power cuts and into the provision of more sports, recreation and social care facilities? Without these infrastructure improvements and facilities the growth in housing would become unsustainable. Now's the time to start making a difference to our lives that will benefit future generations and protect the environment.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Bill Ratcliffe (19th Jul 2015 - 16:46:40) Currently a tanker working for Thames Water is collecting sewage from the pumping station in Old Longmoor Road and discharging it into a manhole in Longmoor Road. The driver informs me that the drains leading from this manhole do not connect with the broken pumping station in Old Longmoor Road but reach the treatment plant by another route. This operation is carried out about 6 or 7 times per day including runs in all through the night.

Re: Community Forum - Can the drains take the strain? - Steve Mac (6th Aug 2015 - 11:33:40) Unaware of the ongoing debate about the drains I phoned Thames Water to find out if there was a problem with drains in the Liphook area. I reported seeing Sludge tankers DUMPING effluent into road manholes in Longmoor Road (for the last few weeks) in Haslemere Road (last Sunday) and in Headley Road (on Monday). I was informed that they knew nothing of this so I emailed some photographs to them and informed the Police. I received a call from the Police at Whitehill Office yesterday. They have been told that there has been a problem with a pumping station at Griggs Green but this has now been resolved. A remarkable coincidence perhaps but nobody I have spoken to reports seeing any tankers since Monday morning even though a tanker driver had left a length of hose and a road cone in Headley road, obviously intending to return. These have been swiftly removed. Comments?

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