Following the disruption at Wembley High Road and Park Lane, Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has issued the following statement:
Following more disruption on Wembley High Road and Park Lane, I am setting up an urgent meeting with Affinity Water to understand what they will be doing to fix these problems once and for all.
Since 2019, Affinity has applied for 17 emergency permits to fix leaks on those two roads alone. These latest repairs are stopping deliveries to essential businesses and making it more difficult for residents trying to get to vaccination appointments, COVID tests and keyworker jobs.
We’ve been here many times before, so we now need Affinity to get to the bottom of the issues with the water mains for residents and businesses along that stretch. At that meeting, I will be asking them to explain their plans and holding them to account.
I wonder if the problems have anything to do with the 'Twin Towers' high rise blocks at the junction of the High Road and Park Lane as well as Brent House on the High Road itself. Brent House was the site of major problems when concrete blocked the sewer. LINK
6 comments:
I wonder (I believe) if the cause of the bursts is that Affinity Water has had to raise the pressure in the system to cope with all the new buildings in the north of Brent? Of course, Butt will shy away from that response as he loves tall high density buildings doesn't he? Another thought: Affinity have started forcing people in the North of Brent to have water metres (rationing via cost), they are using the lever of the area being designated an area of water stress, they therefore have the legal right to install metres.
Very likely - those monstrosities on the High Road were always going to lead to trouble and with the amount of buildings springing up like ragweed around Wembley Park - the problems will only be exacerbated.
Perhaps Butt should also speak to the builders at the Junction of Ealing Road And Bridgewater Road causing a 2 mile tail back?
By coincidence a serious water leak started from a fault in my gas boiler on the 13th of Feb and resulted in gallons of water running down the outside wall down into my neighbour's property which caused a significant amount of damage, distress and anxiety and lasted for four days before it was shut off on Tuesday evening and fixed yesterday afternoon.
My heart goes out to my neighbour and I hope that the landlord won't hesitate to compensate them for the damage that was done to their property.
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This statement has been issued via an official Brent Council press release, although it appears to be a personal statement by an elected member of the Council. There are times when it appears that the Council's official media is being used to promote a party political figure, albeit in his role as Leader of the Council.
On the basic point, highlighted in several anonymous comments above, it is almost certainly the case that the huge expansion of high rise homes in the Wembley area during the past few years has put too much pressure on some very old water supply infrastructure. Most of the mains system will have been installed by the Colne Valley Water Company, and some of it will date back a hundred years or more.
As you all know when ever an opponent to a Planning Application makes the point that the water supply and sewerage systems in the area cannot cope they are firmly told that their concern is NOT a Planning issue the presumption being that the developer will invest and deal with the matter. The Councillors on the Planning Committee are then told to ignore the resident's concerns as being irrelevant.
I bet you that the Councillors who approve the Monster Tower Blocks and the Planning Officers who recommend them never go back to check if the Developer has done what they actually said that they would do.
It should be easy for Affinity Water to confirm if the new developments and the pressure they put on the existing ancient systems are the cause of the current problems. There have been leaks in Park Lane for some time and the road has been dug up more than once but the problems have never been completely sorted.
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