No progress on network of drains map

Thatcham Flood Forum are disappointed by the response from West Berkshire Council and Thames Water

THE Thatcham Flooding Forum is concerned that neither West Berkshire Council nor Thames Water know where all the underground pipes are in the town, three years after investigation works started.

Representatives from both agencies admitted to a packed meeting on Monday that they did not know when a full map would be completed.

They were there to answer questions that had been drawn up by Thatcham Town Council and the forum.

The chairman of the forum, Ian Dunn, said that he was concerned that neither company knew what was underground and that they had not sorted out between them which was responsible for underground works.

He said: “I think that's going to be their excuse.

“They are going to remain reactive.

“We are looking for pro-activity – getting things done before there's a problem.

“It does not satisfy us that they have not improved the infrastructure.”

One of the questions asked of the agencies was whether there was a full list of the facilities/assets in the area which could pose flood risks.

West Berkshire Council's principal engineer, Stuart Clark, said that like most local authorities, the council did not have records of all of them.

He said that it was working on a system to find out what pipes were its responsibility, but added: “We won't have that information for the foreseeable future.”

He said that what happened three years ago, when hundreds of homes were devastated by heavy rainfall, was a once in a 200 year period storm and that he did not believe highways drains played an important role.

Thames Water also admitted that it did not know where all the pipes and sewers were.

Business leader Phil Bailey said: “We don't know where all the pipes are in the ground but we continue to improve our records.

“We hold them on a map of sewers, but it does need to be continually updated.”

Mr Clark pointed out that the district council had already done work to alleviate the problem of flooding in the town, including rebuilding head walls, digging ditches and the replacement of surface water sewers.

Funding of about £42,000 is also being sought from the Environment Agency for works in Cold Ash.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Dunn said: “West Berkshire Council attended to say what it had done, we wanted to know that and what it hoped to achieve.

“We got less than what we hoped for, but we expected what we got.

“They didn't answer all the questions but it opened the door for us to continue to ask questions.”