A foot and a half of water flooded into this cellar in Battersea
Residents living in and around Queenstown Road plus local shops and businesses regularly suffer from flooded basements during heavy downpours because sewers and drains serving the area cannot cope with sudden and prolonged rainfall.
The problem is most acute in streets like Prairie Street, Ingelow Road, Thackeray Road, Emu Road and Robertson Street, as well as Queenstown Road itself.
Thames Water have long acknowledged that there is a problem in these neighbourhoods but have not yet taken action to improve drainage here.
The utility company wrote to residents as long ago as December 1998 promising to carry out remedial work – but the project never progressed. In its letter Thames Water stated: “As you may be aware properties around the Queenstown Road area have been known to suffer occasional flooding during extreme weather conditions. Some customers have suffered during heavy rain with flooding inundation or the restricted use of WC facilities.”
The letter explained that the “underlying reasons” are “the area is low lying and flat and the sewers have a slack gradient” while in addition, “the local sewerage system is a combined surface water and foul water system. As a consequence of the above, in times of heavy rainfall the system’s capacity may be temporarily exceeded.”
Despite conceding the company was “aware of the problems some customers have faced” and proposing a series of remedial measures – these did not proceed.
One resident of Prairie Street who has contacted Cllr Govindia but has asked to remain anonymous, condemned the company’s inactivity having suffered another flooded basement on Sunday and pointed out that his cellar has been flooded eight times since 1993.
He added: “It would be tempting to think of this as exceptional, but it isn't. The basement of my house was flooded in 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2016 (twice) and now 2021 (one and a half feet of water). Thames Water are fully aware of this and I also have correspondence to support this. Indeed, at one stage, in 1999, works were planned but cancelled.
“It appears that it is very difficult to get Thames Water to take their responsibilities seriously. It is hard to report a flood to them and I have been told that, ridiculously, they do not accept a report of flooding unless you do so within 24 hours. As I type this, I have now waited nearly two hours for them to answer the phone – still waiting and soon I will have to give up.
“It seems ridiculous that regular flash flooding that has been going on for at least 30 years, on average every three and half years, has not been sorted yet.
“We need Thames Water to take its responsibilities seriously and to improve the drains. None of us needs a lecture on global warming to know that flash downpours are going to get more frequent and more severe as time goes on.”
Another resident of Prairie Street said: “When we raised the issue after the last flood with signatures from at least 30 residents they responded that they would not accept it because each resident had not logged the complaint separately and within 24 hours of the flood. Also they had disregarded all the previous correspondence with residents "because we changed the way of logging and registering customer issues".
Cllr Govindia echoed this criticism and urged the water company to “just get on with it and stop fobbing off our residents”.
He added: “They know there is a serious problem in this part of Battersea. They have known about it for more than 20 years but done nothing to help residents and businesses who regularly suffer flooding from these sudden downpours.
“They have simply abandoned their responsibilities and left residents and shopkeepers in states of high anxiety every time there is a weather warning. It is an intolerable situation and needs to be put right without any further delay.”
Part of the December 1998 Thames Water letter promising action to prevent further floods in this area of Battersea
