Cookham community calls for action over Lightlands Lane Sewage Pumping Station

Members of the Cookham community are calling for Thames Water to take action over a sewage pumping station in the village to ensure it is not overwhelmed in the future.

Last week, major flooding hit the village, causing main access routes to be closed and leaving Cookham Causeway as the only way in and out.

In the midst of this, Thames Water apologised to residents of Lightlands Lane after the pumping station became ‘overwhelmed’ due to the heavy rainfall, leaving sewage water flowing into people’s properties.

Tankers were subsequently used to remove the excess sewage, ‘reducing the risk of further flooding’ and to ensure customers could continue using their facilities at home.

But this is not the first time this had happened.

Cookham parish councillor and Cookham Society chairman, Bill Perry, and Dick Scarff, chairman of the society’s environmental sub-committee, said the situation had occurred during the previous flooding in 2014.

Thames Water has been asked on many occasions since 2014 to raise the electrics at the pumping station so they are above flood level, or to encapsulate them using resin to stop flood water getting in, Mr Scarff said.

But he claimed the company said it would not do anything further, following the work it had completed to extend a flood wall at the site.

With the pumping station overwhelmed once again during this year’s flooding, Mr Scarff and Cllr Perry are now calling for Thames Water to take action on moving the electrics above flood level.

“It is extremely frustrating. Totally unnecessary flooding because what it means is the pumping station stops, the drainage stops working, people’s loos stop working, sewage comes up into houses and things – it’s a nightmare,” Mr Scarff said.

“Raise the electrics, do the sensible thing. Electrics and water don’t mix.”

Cllr Perry said: “This is something the Cookham Society and all sorts of other people have been warning Thames Water about for years.”

He added that it is ‘imperative’ in the interests of the residents of Lightlands Lane and elsewhere in Cookham, ‘that something be done about this’.

“That station has got to be properly flood proofed.” Cllr Perry said.

Mr Scarff also raised concerns about the adequacy of the flood wall that was built around the station.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to residents of Lightlands Lane in Cookham who have been impacted by sewer flooding. Unfortunately, flood defenses next to Lightlands Lane Sewage Pumping Station were overwhelmed following recent heavy rainfall.

“This caused the site to flood, affecting our ability to pump sewage away from nearby properties. The flooding also affected a third-party electrical transformer situated next to the site which made it unsafe for our engineers to carry out repairs while this was submerged.

“The pumping station was brought back into service on January 11 and the tankers, which we used to remove excess sewage to reduce the risk of further flooding and to ensure customers could continue to use facilities at home, were kept in place until the January 12.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson, said: “We recognise the devastating impact that flooding has on homes, businesses and communities, especially where sewage is present in flood water.

“We work with water companies to support them to explore ways to make their assets, such as pumping stations, more resilient to flooding.

"2023 was one of the wettest years on record with nearly twice the average annual rainfall recorded in some parts Berkshire.

"This resulted in flooding in the Cookham area with water levels that were greater than the design standard for the wall and bund around the Lightlands Lane Sewage Pumping Station.

"In addition to this, groundwater levels rose significantly, which may also have caused flooding from the ground behind the wall and embankment."