'Sewer collapse sparks fears for Evesham's infrastructure' - Civic Society - The Evesham Observer

'Sewer collapse sparks fears for Evesham's infrastructure' - Civic Society

Evesham Editorial 1st Aug, 2019 Updated: 2nd Aug, 2019   0

THE CHAIRMAN of Evesham Civic Society has told The Observer he fears for the town’s infrastructure after a sewer pipe collapsing in the town last Saturday led to a road being closed for almost a week.

James Powell spoke out following the incident in Port Street which caused the ground to collapse at the site.

He said the sewer which was at least a century old was considered inadequate, overloaded and unsuitable to accommodate further sewage and surface water 25 years ago.

It would struggle with any further development taking place and, with large housing estates being built in the Bengeworth area, he was concerned the situation could get worse.




Giving his oponion on the issues Mr Powell, who is now retired but was an environmental health surveyor for local authorities in South Worcestershire, added: “The ground in Bengeworth is mainly clay. At one time it had its own quarry and brickworks between Badsey Lane and Elm Road.

“Over the last two years the church tower of St Peters, Bengworth started to slope towards the road.


“The sewer is only 20 metres from the church, which is over 150 years old, and this defect has occurred over recent years.

“Could it be that the broken sewer is affecting the foundations of the church and tower?

“All Saints Church, St Lawrence Church and the Bell Tower, are built on sand and are much older than St Peters, but have not had any problems.”

He has now called on Severn Trent to take action.

“This infrastructure problem is one of a number of major defects that have arisen in Evesham, together with parking and traffic.

“Common sense must prevail and the answers are not always found in computers.”

Port Street was due to re-open this morning after sewage was pumped and taken from the area in tankers and highways workers repaired the road.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said it had to close the road to keep workers fixing the pipe safe, apologised for any inconvenience and said improvements were being made to the network in Evesham.

He added work was continually being carried out to replace ageing water pipes with new ones which were less prone to leaks and bursts.

“The work we’re currently carrying out in the Radford Road area of Evesham is part of a £10million investment programme across Worcestershire, to replace 60 miles of new water pipes over a 12 month period.”

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