With the water table and river level dropping we can be confident that the risk of groundwater flooding is virtually non-existent for the time being. However, I don’t need to remind those who were here at the time, the last major surface water flood, when the river burst its banks, was in the month of July in 2007. With a heavy enough deluge of rain, it can happen at any time. However, there are two positive factors in comparison to that year. The Eastbury Flood Alleviation Scheme is in place and has already proved its worth, and secondly, in many places, there is not much weed growth blocking the river this year. And where there is, it is being cleared. That would make a significant difference, were we to suffer such a deluge.
Despite this respite, SAGLUV has been keeping busy of course, and below you will find our latest detailed update, but if you are short of time, the brief summary is this:
· The Upper Lambourn Valley is definitely on Thames Water’s radar, and they appreciate the constructive dialogue between SAGLUV and TW at Senior Director level.
· TW is restructuring its organisation to ensure a closer focus on sewage issues.
· The relining/repair work that has been identified, will be completed this summer, with a planned start date of w/c 29 July.
· A constructive discussion has been held about often poor customer service, particularly from the contractors that TW employ, and commitment has been given to address these issues.
· The commitment is there to continue with this constructive dialogue on a regular basis.
Sewage Action Group Lambourn Upper Valley.
With groundwater levels steadily dropping, now is the time that Thames Water can start to carry out the relining and repair work that they have planned, and informed us about, earlier in the year. To satisfy ourselves that this is actually going to happen, we at SAGLUV have a progress review meeting planned with TW’s Regional Network Operations Team later this week to go through the fine detail of what they are going to do, and when. We have been told that work will start w/c 29 July, but we will soon find out.
However, we also requested a separate meeting with Tessa Fayers, Operations Director Thames Valley and Home Counties, for a headline review, and to discuss a number of more strategic issues that we have concerns about. I’m sure everyone is aware from the press coverage that Thames Water is in a difficult place at the moment, and we wanted to hear their account of the current situation and what impact it could have on us.
That meeting was held on 15 July and this update summarises on the discussions that took place.
Attendees:
For SAGLUV: Martyn Wright – Chair, Andrew Gorton – representing Eastbury, Sue Tulloch – East Garston, Tony Coard – Great Shefford, Rachel Carden – Lambourn (Although Rachel is a member of SAGLUV, she does not formally represent Lambourn as Lambourn Parish Council has withdrawn from SAGLUV and are dealing with TW directly)
Louisa Freeman sent her apologies as she was unable to attend.
For Thames Water: Tessa Fayers - Operations Director, Ty Harling – Head of Field Operations for Lanes Group plc.
1. TW general update: TW has recently announced a small profit, which they believe demonstrates that the company is a viable enterprise that can operate within budget and can attract investment. This, of course, is vital, as TW’s current funds for their general operations and essential investment in their networks, run out in about a year’s time. TW have made their submission to OFWAT for the latest 5 year Price Review to which OFWAT’s response has just been published. There is a degree of acceptance of TW’s submission, however, the elements addressing upgrade of assets is still under review. This has been widely reported in the media. Perhaps we are fortunate that the £10 million East Shefford Sewage Treatment Works upgrade is on track for completion in 2025, and will reduce phosphate pollution and increase flow volume capacity. The £5 billion Thames Tidal sewer tunnel is also due for completion soon which will reduce London sewage spills by 95%.
2. TW internal re-structure: Tessa explained that changes are being made to the structure of the organisation to give a clearer focus on the two elements of TW’s business; Water and Wastewater. The role of Chief Operating Officer has been created with two directors reporting in, one for each element. The split previously was geographic. Tessa has been appointed as the Operations Director for Wastewater for the whole TW estate serving 16 million customers. To SAGLUV, this seems a logical division of responsibilities, which will give more focus. Our local contact, Regional Manager Karen Nelson, will be moving to a different role, and Tessa will keep us updated as the new structure develops.
3. Plans for the relining and repair work in Lambourn Upper Valley: Tessa confirmed that the work TW had informed us about was planned to start w/c 29 July, subject to any unforeseen emergencies that may delay. Funding has been allocated and a specialist contractor, OnSite, has been engaged. As mentioned earlier, our progress review meeting with the Regional Network and Engineering Team, to be held on Wednesday 24, July will confirm the detail.
4. Thames Water and Lanes Group partnership: During the last six months, with the dire sewage issues we faced, we experienced some examples of extremely poor customer service. Much of the routine work done in response to customer reports of sewage problems were dealt with by TW’s main contractor, Lanes. Although Thames Water is ultimately responsible for all work done, whether by themselves or by their appointed contractors, we at SAGLUV came to the view that contractors often let down TW, and its customers, by their poor performance and attitude. We wrote a detailed paper on this issue for Tessa Fayers, for discussion at the meeting, and suggested she invited a senior representative from Lanes Group also to join in the debate, hence the attendance of Ty Harling, Lanes’ Head of Field Operations for the TW contract.
It was certainly interesting to hear a lot of detail about Lanes’ operation and how they manage the extreme peak workload of up to 1,200 jobs per day. Ty and Tessa addressed the numerous points we had made in the paper, which gave us a clear insight into the way they approach the challenges. There was an admission that they were not aware of some of the issues we had raised, and Ty committed to follow up on these points. He also suggested that his Regional Manager for our area should attend our Regional Network Operations meeting in future. Each year, TW and Lanes agree a joint Winter Plan, a comprehensive strategy to meet the anticipated network needs at this critical period. They have also committed to meet and share this with us in the autumn.
It is recognised that there have also been problems with the control of contract tanking operations with tankers running late, pumping from the wrong place, or not turning up at all. It is a complex issue as these operations involve a range of different contractor companies. This will be an agenda item for the Regional meeting this week.
As a result of this discussion, there is a greater understanding, on both sides, of the common issues of concern, and the modus operandi of TW/Lanes. This better understanding will enable further constructive feedback between TW/Lanes and SAGLUV, hopefully leading to improvements in service to customers.
5. Communication with SAGLUV: Although there is now an effective formal communication structure i.e. at Operations Director level, and Regional Network level, SAGLUV feels that there are improvements needed at the immediate Field Operations level. It would be helpful for us to be told of problems, and when things are happening, rather than having to ask after the event. This will be raised further at the meeting this week.
6. Next Progress Review: Tessa Fayers and Ty Harling will meet with us for a further Review Meeting in the autumn, after they have drawn up their Winter Plan.
To summarise: In the two and a half hours of the meeting a lot of ground was covered. Although we do not underestimate the problems that Thames Water have with their networks and operations, we in SAGLUV felt that it was a constructive meeting with a number of problematic issues raised and understood. We are confident that this dialogue will continue and play a part in bringing about the improvements that are desperately needed.
We will continue to update you with progress as and when can.
Martyn Wright (Chair, SAGLUV)
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