SEWERS & DRAINS |
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IF YOU HAVE A SEWERAGE OR DRAIN PROBLEM, CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND HELP! THE SITUATION TODAY Perhaps the most important issue for the Association is the ongoing maintenance of the sewers under the Estate. The older properties in the lower Estate are, in fact, in the best position here because the sewers were in place prior to 1936, and therefore the water company was forced to adopt and maintain them at no cost to the Association under legislation. The same does not currently apply to the 1961 and 1974 developments (above the post box). The Committee has been in touch with Wessex Water at various times to discuss the take-on of the later pipe-work, but that company was reluctant to consider it due to the non-standard positioning of the inspection chambers (in private gardens), sub-standard materials (pitch-fibre pipes), and the poor condition of some parts of the system, confirmed by CCTV surveys commissioned by the WCHOA. There has been a Government initiative ongoing since 2002 to consider an enforced take-on of all private sewers by the water companies. The WCHOA Committee worked with our local MP Oliver Letwin to press DEFRA to produce the final report and a timetable for this activity, which finally happened in March 2007. The report concluded that the only way ahead would be to go for a takeover in the near future of all privately-owned sewers by the water companies, with the cost being amortised over all water customer bills (estimated at between £3 an £12 per year increase for all customers).
Consultation was then held with
the Statutory Water Companies (e.g. Wessex Water) and other
interested parties throughout 2007 to decide how best to do this –
via a “Big Bang” or a phased programme.
Another report
was issued in March 2008, which said in summary:
“The
majority of respondents favoured an overnight automatic transfer of
ownership of private sewers and lateral drains to the statutory
water and sewerage companies.
Most
respondents also favoured the inclusion of … private surface water
sewers that drain to watercourses. All agreed a need for a more
integrated sewerage network and the objective to have clarity of
ownership and fairness for householders”
DEFRA is now working on a legislative
way ahead based on the consultation - probably by 2010.
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