Support for Standard stench campaign (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Support for Standard stench campaign

RESIDENTS in South Cerney have come out in force to support the Standard's Stop the Stench campaign.

People living in Robert Franklin Way and Kingfisher Place say they are sick and tired of problems with leaking pipes and bad smells which have plagued them for too long.

They are demanding;

o An end to pipe bursts which leave the streets awash with raw sewage.

o A stop to bad smells which bubble up through drains and washing machines.

o A promise from Thames Water that pipes will be replaced.

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown this week lent his support to the Standard's campaign and added: "They Thames Water have said that the repairs could take up to a year, which seems to me to be an awful long time.

"They have been fiddling about with it for about five years and not quite given it the attention they ought to.

"I have insisted on a follow-up meeting on 29 September by which time they will have carried out a full feasibility survey. I will be expecting very significant progress."

David Spencer, who lives next to the main pumping station, said Thames Water needed to act now to stop the continuing sewage saga.

He said: "I am backing the campaign because it is unreasonable that in the 21st century that residents in an English village should have to put up with sewage in the roads and all that goes with it. It is unacceptable that with the technology they have that they cannot pin down what is causing this."

Although Thames Water are investigating the cause of the pipe bursts and sewage smells, bosses claim it could be up to two years before any work is done.

But residents want reassurance that the pipes leading to the pumping station, which date back to the 1960s will be replaced.

At last month's meeting with Mr Clifton-Brown water chiefs pointed the finger of blame at Cotswold District Council planners for allowing further building development on an already overloaded system.

But the three district councillors present at the meeting said as a statuary consultee Thames Water had the right to object to any application if it looked likely to affect the sewers in any way.