Drakes Broughton Parish Council
Sewage and Drainage Objections
Land Opposite Woodmead Walcot Lane
Number 14/00273
Objections specific to site
1. The site is situated on land sloping to the South of the majority of the
village. This is in the opposite direction to the dwellings currently built
which are on land which slopes away to the North of the village. This as
the developers have identified require Quote “an onsite pumping station
and rising main”. This means that electrical power is required 24/7 and
365 days a year, this alone we submit renders the site unsuitable for
residential development.
2. A brief description of the flow from dwelling to the village pumping
station again indicates problems which render the site unsustainable:
 Sewage is to be pumped from dwellings to a connection in Walcot
Lane. Our understanding is that there is no sewage system [foul
pipework] under Walcot Lane. Storm water yes but no foul
sewage.
 Then by gravity via new pipework to a point which we have
established will have to be some distance from the site.
 Connecting then to a small 150mm pipe which already carries the
sewage and storm water from approximately 60+ dwellings.
 Connecting then to an equally small 150 mm main sewage pipe
which carries waste material from a further 200+ dwellings, [this
must currently be considered to be at its maximum capacity if not
in excess]. It is worth noting that much of this pipework has been
in place for many years and its condition is unknown, other
section having been originally built as a private sewage system.
 The final connection is to a “short run” of 225mm pipe, this is
relatively new and reflects size requirements for disposal of this
quantity of sewage.
3. We submit that the system to which the proposal indicates it will attach
is currently at “full stretch”, this is especially the case when it is raining
since it was constructed to be a combined foul and storm water system
[legal at that time]. It has been communicated to us that sewage has at
times discharged into the ditch at the Northern end of the village.
Adding another 32 dwellings will exacerbate the problems, increasing
the discomfort of the residents in the locality.
4. Currently residents particularly in the lower Northern end of the village
complain of poor sewage flows and “a back up “ of the system into their
homes, this is both inconvenient and a significant risk to public health.
5. The pumping station has been monitored by local residents for a
considerable time, they indicate an increase in mechanical activity
[operation of the pumps] and maintenance by engineering staff at the
site which correlates with each new development attached to the
system.
6. The risk of mechanical malfunction, the village has no choice but to run
the risk of severe disruption should a breakdown in the pumping system
occur or a serious power outage occur. Unfortunately this is an
inevitable “fact of life” due to the construction of the present system.
Surely there is no justification for “stressing” the system further.
7. Storm water concerns: Current designs submitted apparently rule out
the use of rainwater harvesting tanks, this is environmentally
unacceptable, it alludes to the problems associated with pumping
water, i.e. initial cost, maintenance, and reliability. These are the very
same points which we have highlighted and objected to when pumping
sewage. Surely their own water management statement must be
considered an indictment of its own recommendations regarding
sewage.
8. We believe the proposals are constrained by cost that is reducing costs
to a point where they are considered viable [but incidentally not
environmentally sustainable] will contribute to flooding.
9. The Parish Council believes that the proposals will increase the flow of
water down Brickyards Lane; there is ample photographic evidence to
show the detrimental effect of current water flows down this lane. The
District and County Council has recently incurred significant costs in the
drainage of flood water from the carriageway at the lower end of this
road.
10.We believe any increase in water flowing down Brickyards Lane will
exacerbate an already existing and evolving problem.
At the lower end of Brickyards Lane there is the site of an old brickyard
which was abandoned and later used as a tip.
Since this was at a time when regulation and control was non existent,
there are apparently no records of what is buried there. Currently after
periods of rainfall noxious materials are reported to be leaching out
from this site, raising fears of health risks from the buried material.