Water & Sewage

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"Known areas at risk of flooding include Blean, Chestfield, the Gorrel Stream, Swalecliffe Brook, Westbrook, Plenty Brook, Stour, Little Stour and Nailbourne river." [Draft Local Plan 7.32]

The Council accepts that we have some known flood areas.

"The infrastructure along the coastal lowlands with respect to foul and surface water drainage is nearing saturation despite improvement works." [Draft Local Plan 7.33]

We have a known sewage management problem and yet the Council is proposing lots of new housing. The Plan says that this problem will need to be dealt with (new treatment works etc.) but it does not say how, nor does it say how it will be paid for.

"On sites that have not been previously developed within the Environment Agency's Zones 2 & 3, no development will be permitted unless an exceptional justification can be demonstrated." [Draft Local Plan 7.41]

We think that both the Greenhill site and the Golf Course site might include areas which are at significant risk of flooding as defined by the Environment Agency. It is very difficult to be sure of this as the Plan only includes cartoon maps rather than proper plans that are to scale, but it does look as if residential housing is being planned for some flood risk areas. In addition, if this is a natural floodplain that is going to be built on, there will be an increased risk of flooding further down the line in central HB if all this housing is built.

The district is already water-stressed in terms of public water supply. There is no proposal to deal with the added demand on water that another 14,000 to 18,000 people will make. [Draft Local Plan 7.59]

Work to start on Herne Bay sea defences

Canterbury City Council has received approval and funding from the Environment Agency to start improvements to the sea defences at the central part of Herne Bay.

The £900,000 project includes a £80,000 council contribution, and work is due to start on site at the end of January. Breheny Civil Engineering has been awarded the contract, and all improvements should be completed by the end of June this year.

Work on the sea defences will involve raising the rear wall by 300mm and renewal of all the coping stones. All gaps will be closed by the use of floodgates, and a new rear wall will be built across the back of Neptune car park. The car park will also benefit from a barrier which will be installed at its entrance and can be closed at night, making the area secure.

Three new groynes will be constructed at the western end of central Herne Bay, where beach erosion has become a regular problem. The project will upgrade the standard of the sea defences to meet a one in 200-year storm event, such as the storm surge that occurred in the winter of 1953.

Originally scheduled for 2015, the council was able to bring the sea defence work forward due to a swift design and tender process that made the funding available. The project was designed and will be managed on site by the East Kent Engineering Partnership (EKEP). This is a partnership of Canterbury, Dover, Thanet, Shepway and Swale councils’ engineering teams.

The council’s Executive member for engineering, Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones, said:

"The council is absolutely committed to investing in the future of Herne Bay, and to have secured this funding for a significant project is wonderful news. The country has seen recent unprecedented inland flooding and this has led to extra demand to combat the problem. Therefore we’re pleased to have been able to convince the Environment Agency of the importance of the need for our scheme. Thanks to our involvement with EKEP, the Canterbury engineering team has worked on an array on different projects, including work for other local authorities. This expertise ensures we can turn projects round quickly, efficiently and to exceptionally high standards."

Breheny Civil Engineering is currently working on the Margate sea defence scheme near the town’s Turner Contemporary. This is another EKEP project involving engineers from the city council.

CCC 8 January 2013

Victims of floods in £1 million claim bid

Health campaigner is elected as leader of action group

A flood action group has been formed to hit Southern Water bosses "where it hurts". Furious residents packed into the basement bar of the Bun Penny pub on Thursday to discuss seeking compensation from the water giant following floods in August. They say their total claim could top £1 million. Campaign leader David Shortt told the group:

"I have been flooded five times in four years and I am sick of it."

The graphics designer from Mortimer Street said:

"The best way to make our voices heard is as a group, We must find out who was responsible and make them pay."

Residents formed the Herne Bay Flood Action Group - Flag - and elected Mr Shortt as chairman of a fighting committee. A similar disaster happened in 2005 following a computer fault at the pumping station. Mr Shortt said:

"It appears next to nothing has been done by Southern Water since then."

Canterbury City Council engineer Ted Edwards said there had been regular flooding in Herne Bay until the mid-1980s when a 6ft diameter relief sewer was installed 12ft below the town to cope with excess rain water. Mr Edwards said:

"On August 25 there was only 26mm of rain which shouldn't have caused any problems. Yet something wasn't working properly. It sounds as if there was a problem with the pumps."

In June this year Southern Water gave Mr Shortt £217 compensation. He said:

"We have to make them pay out big for everyone's inconvenience. We must be compensated with a serious amount of money "We have no idea what effect these floods have had on our houses but I reckon it has taken at least five figures off their value. The amount we claim must reflect this."

City councillor Mike Patterson said the council had already written a "very firm" letter to Southern Water demanding to know what went wrong. Bay MP Roger Gale has summoned Southern Water bosses to meet him at the Houses of Parliament this week. City councillor Ron Flaherty said:

"It is terribly important we find out what happened."

Businessman Bill Briggs, who owns Briggsy's Antiques Emporium and had his living quarters in his cellar flooded, said he called Southern Water at 8pm that day when water started coming up through his toilet but had the phone put down on him. He said:

"We are their early warning system but they didn't listen to me."

Retired barrister June Raybaud insisted everyone write down exactly what happened during the flood, adding:

"You need to work out just how much you have lost in time, inconvenience and property. We could be talking £1 million."

Investigations by Southern Water have found that a valve on an emergency outlet pipe at the King's Hall Pumping station, which should have been open, was actually closed preventing storm-water from being released out to sea. This therefore backed up in the sewerage system and eventually overflowed and led to the flooding of the basements of 60 homes on Wednesday, August 25. Further investigations to find out why the valve was closed are continuing. Director of customer services at Southern Water, Kim Salmon, said:

"Firstly, I want to once again say sorry to all those who were affected by the flooding. Our immediate priority remains to complete a full clean-up and help everyone get back to normal. We have been able to find out why there was flooding, although we still need to establish why the valve was shut. Work to discover this is continuing so we can ensure the problem should not happen again."

To join Flag call Mr Shortt on 01227 741144.

HB Times 16th September 2010 john.nurden@KRNmedia.co.uk

Flood: Southern Water to blame

HB Gazette 16th September 2010

Flood: the residents

HB Gazette 16th September 2010

Flood: the MP and the Engineer

HB Gazette 16th September 2010