Chelsea and Fulham MP, Greg Hands, is urging local residents not to miss out on a chance to voice their opinions on the proposals for a new storm relief sewer - a proposed £280 million scheme designed to protect properties in the Counters Creek catchment area from the misery of sewer flooding.
There are just four more weeks for residents to have their say on Thames Water proposals for the new Counter’s Creek storm relief sewer in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The phase one consultation runs until 8 February.
According to Thames Water, the new sewer will help reduce the risk of sewer flooding to over 1,700 basement properties in this area. To build this new sewer, Thames Water are proposing to use five areas across the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham as construction sites.
The proposed construction sites for this new sewer are:
Fulham and Chelsea – Cremorne Wharf on Lots Road
Kensington – Upper Addison Gardens
Hammersmith and Kensington – Kensington Olympia car park
Hammersmith – Site in between Bamborough Gardens and Shepherds Bush Road
Hammersmith – Mund Street
Counters Creek is one of the "lost rivers" of London, arising in Kensal Green Cemetery and flowing south through Wormwood Scrubs, Olympia and Earls Court and then beneath the West London Railway Line to reach the Thames at Chelsea Creek. Today it is almost completely subterranean.
The creek was incorporated in Victorian times into the main sewer for our local area, carrying both sewage and rainwater, but a number of factors including increasing development, our growing population and the concreting over of green spaces means it can no longer cope with demand.
The result is that residents – especially those living in and around Askew Road, Boscombe Road, Greyhound Road and Hammersmith Grove – have seen their basements flooded up to six times since 2004.
Greg Hands MP said “Sewer flooding is a miserable experience for homeowners and businesses to go through. This is an important project and it is important that people have their say both on the sustainability of the scheme but also to help ensure that any community disruption is minimised.”
More information can be found on the Thames Water website at www.thameswater.co.uk/counterscreek. Feedback on the project can be submitted by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.thameswater.co.uk/counterscreek.