Dear Constituents,
Southview/Underdown Roads meeting with Southern Water – March 14th 2024
Thank you very much for attending the Teams meeting with Southern Water on Thursday which I hope you thought was helpful. After some assistance on the technology front, I am now attaching the complete recording of the meeting and a brief summary of action points. Thanks to Jessica whose notes I have also cribbed. I propose to publish the second part of the recording on the more general Southwick Green flooding problems together with a summary of the meeting on my social media platforms and website for a wider audience. Depending on the feedback from that we shall see what follow-up meetings may be required.
Southview/Underdown Roads specific
- We discussed the planning application AWDM/0373/23 which had been refused on September 15th, 2023, and which was now going to appeal. Residents should have been notified about how to make further submissions to the appeal and need to do so before the end of this month. Southern Water had responded to the original application without raising objections.
- Southern Water have now undertaken further modelling in respect of increased demand from the planning application in order to make a submission to the appeal. This modelling would be accelerated and would take into account the recent foul water flooding incidents and the need for prolonged pumping over the last couple of months.
- There was talk about historic covenants about use of the back gardens given the flooding risk but it was unlikely these would be traceable let alone enforceable.
- There was discussion over the original planning application which had been delegated to officers and where the decision was to reject without the need for it to be considered by the full committee. This was a reflection of the strength of the planning case against the application rather than a criticism of any lack of any consultation. It was pointed out that any councillors, especially the ward councillors, have the power to ‘call-in’ a planning application so that it could be considered by full committee, but that had not been found necessary in this case. Further consideration of the application is now solely with the Planning Inspectorate and out of the hands of Adur Planning Department. Tim emphasised how important it is that all residents submit further objections to the Inspectorate before the end of this month, reinforcing their earliest objections, producing new ones in the light of recent acute flooding especially and responding to the defence case put forward by the developer to the appeal.
Southwick Green flooding problems generally
- There are currently 4 pumping units around the Green removing excess water together with tankers when required. Any water which is being pumped out to sea is passing through a filtration tank and being regularly tested for ammonia and other pollutants which have all tested negative to date given the high level of rainwater dilution. Southern Water stated that just increasing the tank capacity was not a long-term solution.
- Tim raised the issue of the water butt pilot run by Southern Water on the Isle of Wight where residents were given free water butts to reduce the flow of water straight into the drains during heavy rainfall. This had reduced flooding by over 80% as the flow of rainwater could be controlled and the company plans to roll this out across the region using recyclable plastic water butts. Tim asked if Southwick could be early beneficiaries given the current pressures, which whilst not a complete solution could certainly help alleviate some of the flooding. SW offered to report back on this.
- There are 2 storm storage tanks opposite Albion Street with an 8-hour capacity and a surface water pumping station under the cricket square on the Green which was added around 15? years ago after severe flooding incidents. All pumps and tanks are operating properly it is just that the level of constant rainwater has been overwhelming with February rainfall the highest recorded in 40 years.
- The collapsed sewer at the bottom of Cross Road was caused by a hole in the top of the sewer and earth dropping in which then caused the collapse. It is an old clay pipe and can be damaged by traffic etc (including the increased use of tankers) and not necessarily linked to the level of rainfall, though this raised questions about the integrity of the local sewer network.
- Communications with residents have been poor although Southern Water claimed to have sent out 1023 customer letters plus 150 hand delivered specifically to houses around the Green
- We discussed the stream underneath that part of Southwick and whether the historic culverts which helped mitigate flooding were still intact. Further historic map evidence would be helpful, and SW offered to investigate this. Apparently, there is evidence of an old water storage facility originally built by the fire brigade.
- One resident queried whether part of the problem was due to Southwick being the only local stretch of the A27 which was not separated from the Downs and the impact of rainwater run-off due to the Southwick Tunnel. That was unlikely given current flooding impacting the A27 at Lancing for example.
Action points from the meeting
LONG-TERM GROUNDWATER VOLUME SOLUTIONS
* Launch a Pathfinder Pilot: Come back to residents with more information and detail on running a Pathfinder pilot as a priority in Southwick, given promising pilot results.
* Addressing the governance crisis around groundwater: Share with residents more granular information on the multi-agency collaboration taking place around Southwick to solve long-term ground issues.
* Tanks under the Green: Confirm options on increasing capacity underneath the Green or with the balancing pond at the northwest corner for the next few years, with details and timings.
* Analysis of the state of the sewage pipe network in the light of the sewer collapse to see if additional capacity is needed to cope with current demand let alone additional properties likely to come on stream.
* Investigate early roll-out of free water butt scheme
SHORT TERM FIXES
- Better communication: Share standard reference/ incident number for residents to prevent having to log different jobs via their phone lines. Improve communications with residents and provide clearer timelines for likely duration or work and road closures.
- Responsible maintenance of the balancing pond so it does not exceed its capacity: Since Roger Williams, Network Engineer for Southern, provided confirmation in the meeting that the balancing pond (the Rest Gardens on Cross Road) is in fact fitted with a SW sewer and is being used to ease capacity, they do indeed have accountability for pumping it when it exceeds capacity as it has this week. Therefore, Southern Water are responsible for pumping it off when it creates (totally preventable) flooding in the next-door house, rather than denying it contains their infrastructure to avoid direct pumping.
- Investigate state of underground steam, culverts etc
Please let me know if there is anything I have missed out from the notes which you would like added. I will post follow-ups from Southern Water on my website and Facebook page, and I am happy to hold a follow-up meeting if that would be helpful.
Kind regards
Tim
