Howard Woollaston: Parish Matters Special – January 2024

Howard Woollaston
West Berkshire Councillor: Lambourn Ward

This is a one-off interim Parish Matters to reflect the extreme situation that we are all in with sewage and flooding in the Lambourn Valley.

On Monday I chaired an emergency Lambourn Valley Flood Forum meeting by Zoom. Attendees include Thames Water (their main Operations Manager for the valley and their Retail Director for Customer Service), the Environment Agency, Key senior Officers from West Berkshire Council (including the Service Director responsible), Flood Wardens from all the main villages in the Valley, the Chairs of both Lambourn and East Garston Parish Council and other interested members of the public. We were 26 strong and with vocal people chairing was a challenge! The meeting lasted for 2 hours, and I think will have positive results.

There is no quick fix. 2023 was the wettest year since records began, the groundwater springs appeared in early December rather than Late January /Early February, we had high rainfall at the beginning of the New Year and the forecast is for more heavy rain next week. The result is only too clear – the Lambourn is running at very high levels and very fast. The sewers cannot cope with the effluent combined with Groundwater infiltration meaning sewage flowing out of manholes in Lambourn and Eastbury and in some cases backing up into peoples’ houses. The groundwater is in many cases only inches below ground level. In Eastbury there has been some road degradation caused by water pressure below which could take months to fix until water levels subside and the river has burst its banks flooding part of Back Street.

The only good piece of news is that the Flood Alleviation schemes in West Berkshire have worked to save the very worst of the flooding and the water levels are dropping very slowly. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Flood Wardens throughout the valley for their dedication and massive efforts. All of the Statutory Bodies made the point that they were “their eyes and ears “on the ground.

There are various road closures in the valley. They are not there for the sake of it, and I would urge you to respect them. In some cases, drivers are going too fast through sewage mixed with groundwater throwing up effluent onto people’sgardens and walls – please try to be considerate. Thames Water have had tankers operating virtually 24×7 to try and keep sewage down as well as ATAC’s (mini filtration units) in Lambourn, East Garston and I believe Great Shefford.

Reports from Flood Wardens further downstream indicated less serious issues until getting to Shaw/Speen on the outskirts of Newbury and again in Clay Hill,North of the A4 and close to where the Lambourn flows into the Kennet. WBC were challenged on ditch and drain clearing and EA on enforcing Riparian Obligations on landowners to allow free flow of the river.

Thames Water apologised for their customer care. Their response system is set up for isolated incidents and not the repeat problems that we have endured. They urge people to keep reporting issues and to ignore the automated response saying words to the effect that “your issue is resolved “

Amongst numerous others I challenged Thames Water for a long-term solution to our problems. My take is that Climate Change is taking effect and rather than 2007 then 2014 and now 2024 we are likely to see this as a more regular occurrence. Questions posed included: –

• Do we need a reservoir above Lambourn to control the flow – if so, could this be partly paid for by hydroelectric power?

• Does it need a replacement of all the sewers in the valley – if so, who is going to pay when TW have a £14Bn debt mountain already?

• Should Central Government be getting more involved in the solution? All Local Authorities are financially struggling already and not in a position to contribute.

• Should there be better links between TW, EA, and WBC?

What is clear is that whilst the Lambourn Valley is dear to our hearts, WBC also has the Pang and Kennet as concerns, TW an even wider number of rivers and watercourses and the Environment Agency the whole country. As I said at the beginning, there is no quick fix. We just need to keep pushing hard for action and I already have the wholehearted support of Laura Farris, our MP, putting pressure on Government. Clive Hooker my opposite number who covers East Garston and Great Shefford and I will keep the pressure on WBC, and we will attempt to get a cross party group of Councillors including those that represent Boxford and the Newbury Wards to have a holistic approach.

Get in touch

Whatever is concerning you please do get in touch on 07836 718 100 or howard.woollaston1@westberks.gov.uk