‘Major distress’ over village flooding

Homeowners in a village near Newport are in ‘major distress’ over back garden flooding caused by a ‘brick and tree stumps’ blocking a pipe which has been going on for a year, says a councillor.

The councillor got an ‘immediate response’ from the water company after emailing Severn Trent’s chief executive on Monday and engineers are being sent to look into it.

But Councillor Andrew Eade (Conservative, Church Aston & Lilleshall) says the issue was first acknowledged and reported by a water company engineer around 12 months ago and confirmed by a camera more than two weeks ago.

The pipe is there to deal with the overflow of a mere at back of properties in Mulberry Close, Church Aston.

Councillor Eade says it severely floods gardens to a ‘considerable depth when it overflows due to the blockage.’

Councillor Eade has urged Severn Trent to get on with the job.

He told the company’s chief executive Liv Garfield that “clearly this continuing problem is not a priority for Severn Trent or it would have been resolved some time ago, but is continuing to cause major distress to my residents whenever we have heavy rain.”

He has urged the company to “get this problem prioritised and dealt with as a matter of urgency and give my residents an early Christmas present.”

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Severn Trent must face up to their responsibilities and get on with the work in hand without any delay or argument.

“It is their outlet pipe, their responsibility, their flooding, and their fault that this unacceptable situation has been allowed to continue.

“Actions always speak louder than words and I will be first in line to thank Severn Trent provided that the work is done straight away.”

But it seems that the water company is at the ‘looking into it’ stage and there is a chance that it is not its responsibility.

A spokesperson for Severn Trent said: “We fully understand how distressing any flooding can be, and will visiting Mulberry Close on December 3 to carry out further investigations.

“We are aware of a blockage in a surface water pipe, and will be digging down to expose the pipe to determine if it is on the Severn Trent part of the network.

“If it is in the Severn Trent pipe, it will be our priority to clear the pipe as quickly as possible, and make sure the network is free-flowing.

Councillor Eade has been told by Severn Trent that once the company receives an update following a excavation and a visual inspection they will contact him with a further update.

An email from the company reads: “We will keep you informed throughout the process. Please be assured that we are treating this matter with urgency and will do everything possible to resolve the problem promptly.

“Thank you again for bringing this to our attention and for your patience while we work to resolve it.”