Teynham sewage system won't cope with 300 home development

KentOnline / KMTV

Residents of Frognal Lane say that the sewage discharges have flooded their road with waste, all the way to their front doors.  Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00Residents have described it as raw sewage spewing out of their driveways, reaching as

00:05far as their front door.

00:07Ever since 2023, locals living here on Frognell Lane in Tenham have had their roads, showers

00:12and toilets subjected to floods of waste that bubble up from manhole covers and can reach

00:17from house number 39 all the way down to the end of the road.

00:21And with almost 300 more homes on the way as part of the Hysted Park development, people

00:26aren't sure the system will be able to cope.

00:28Local councillor Julian Speed thinks the village's other issues need to be addressed

00:32before a single shovel goes in the ground.

00:34I actually argued that the homes shouldn't even be built, let alone occupied, but unfortunately

00:39I didn't manage to get that through.

00:41But that's merely the 300 houses in Frognell Lane.

00:45You've then got potentially over there 1,250 extra houses in the northern Hysted Park site

00:53and all of that will be using the same sewage system as well.

00:56So even though it's going to be upgraded, will it be upgraded sufficiently to cope with

01:01all those extra houses, let alone cope with the problems that residents have got at the

01:05moment?

01:06The smell and sheer amount of it has a disastrous effect on the area, with one discharge lasting

01:11for three days.

01:13And it particularly affects the population of elderly and vulnerable people who live

01:16there.

01:17Now this is probably the worst area on Frognell Lane when it comes to these sewage discharges

01:21and that's all because these houses here are for people with mobility issues.

01:25So all the bathrooms are on the ground floor.

01:27So when the sewage is pumped up out of the drains, it can come through their toilets

01:31and their showers, completely ruining their homes.

01:35Southern Water on the other hand say only 50 more homes could be added to the system

01:38without causing significant damage.

01:41They stated that a recent survey of our sewer network between Tenham and Sittingbourne Wastewater

01:45Treatment Works highlighted the need for upgrades, due to the risk of blockages from ingrowing

01:49tree roots and the build-up of unflushables like wet wipes, fat, oil and grease.

01:54The water company added that they do plan on upgrading the system between now and 2030.

01:59But for residents who have to live with the frequent overflows, they tell me that they

02:02are left with very little hope that their roads, driveways and front doors will remain

02:07free of sewage.

02:08Finn McDermid for KMTV in Tenham.

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