Raw deal in sewage row (From Stroud News and Journal)

Raw deal in sewage row

EXCLUSIVE

RAW sewage is overflowing in a Stroud cul-de-sac because nobody will accept responsibility for the damaged drains.

When the district's sewers were handed over to Severn Trent all the houses in Keats Gardens belonged to the council so the street never appeared on the water company's list.

Since then most have been sold under the right-to-buy scheme and now Stroud District Council is washing it's hands of responsibility for the problem, saying it is now down to residents to foot the bill.

When the sewers began leaking into the street back in August furious residents found themselves swept up in an unexpected and daunting legal tussle.

They have been told they could be expected to pay anything up to £6,000 each to repair a pipe buried in the roadway up to 170ft from their front door.

Pensioners in their 80s and young mums with families have told neighbours they would rather go to prison than find the cash they do not feel they owe.

"It's disgusting, they've left us in this mess," said resident Maureen Till, who says she is fighting to stay out of hospital after her blood pressure soared from the stress.

"We can't find that kind of money, we're just ordinary people trying to get on with our ordinary lives and we're stuck in the middle of something that needs legal experts. "We really can't believe this is happening, it's an awful nightmare."

Conscious of the continuing health implications, the council is now considering fixing the sewers then trying to claim the cash back from the residents.

But it faces an uphill struggle, with the residents vowing to stubbornly stand their ground. "There's no way I would pay them a penny," said Mrs Till.

"Everybody up here is saying they'd rather go to prison than pay it." "If they get away with this they can get away with anything."

In a dispute that is dogged by claims and counter claims, both the residents and the district council argue they have documents proving the sewers are not theirs.

Mr Marshall confirmed that if the council did carry out the work it would take the residents to the small claims court to get the money back if necessary.

"That's obviously not how we'd like to play it," he said. "It's a problem for all of us and a problem all of us need to solve.

"If they think they've got evidence that indicates it's not a private sewer we'd love to see it. "We've also offered to have a site meeting and nobody's taken us up on it.

"But from our point of view they are liable and it would be wrong for other council tax payers to have to foot the bill.

"The bottom line is we're happy to talk to them about it and that's really what we need to do."

The residents have now solicited the help of David Drew. Mr Drew said everyone involved needed to get round the table to sort it out.

"The authorities are all looking the other way and that's not a responsible way to do business," he said.

"Just saying it's not our problem before is unacceptable. "The urgent thing is to get it fixed and have the legal arguments later."

He said elsewhere in the district similar problems had occurred and it had ended up with residents, Severn Trent and the council all chipping in to foot the bill.

Mr Drew argued the council had failed to come up with a convincing argument for why the householders should pay and he had advised them not to until they had before them solid proof the sewers were theirs and a fully-costed, detailed bill rather than a vague estimate.

He said the problem had been recognised nationally and there was currently a bill going through Parliament but it would be little consolation to the Keats Gardens residents as it would not be passed in time for their case.

"This thankfully doesn't happen very often," he said. "But when it does there should be an appropriate response."