Loss of Bodenham village stream
Case reference EIR2025/01140
Received 14 June 2025
Published 4 July 2025
Request
Loss of stream in Bodenham village HR1 3JU Balfour Beatty advised asking for an answer to what is being done to restore the stream which disappeared after BB doing work there. Mark Watkins, the drainage engineer, knows exactly where it is and Balfour Beatty's Enquiry No.is 1179724 identified it as a defect scheduled for repair. I have W3W's for you if needed but BB know exactly where they jetted the gullies and allowed a resident to interfere and a pipe was smashed. It is lamentable that an historic feature has been treated so badly.
Response
Loss of stream in Bodenham village HR1 3JU Balfour Beatty advised asking for an answer to what is being done to restore the stream which disappeared after BB doing work there. Mark Watkins, the drainage engineer, knows exactly where it is and Balfour Beatty's Enquiry No.is 1179724 identified it as a defect scheduled for repair. I have W3W's for you if needed but BB know exactly where they jetted the gullies and allowed a resident to interfere and a pipe was smashed. It is lamentable that an historic feature has been treated so badly.
Answer: Our investigation found that a sandbag had been placed at the bottom of a manhole, obstructing the system’s original flow path.
This obstruction was removed, and the pipework was cleansed, which has since redirected flow away from the brook by the church. The outlet pipe from the church was located high in the chamber and historically prone to backing up during periods of heavy rainfall, and although we understand that local people would like to see this flow restored, we have just renewed the system to its original historic design.
By restoring the system to its originally intended function, we aim to reduce the risk of flooding in the area. There is no evidence of any damage to the pipework during our operation, and no record of a pipe being broken. The work undertaken was standard maintenance to improve system performance.
Documents
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