Month: October 2025

In our previous posts of 2nd August and 22nd September we mentioned the issues which had been discovered in the surface water underground drainage system. LMC is responsible for maintenance and repairs despite originally being informed by Bellway that the system was adoptable by Thames Water.

The final work has now been arranged to start next Friday 24th October. A 10,000psi jetting unit will be used to clear weed roots and some concrete deposits which are impeding the flow. The contractor will then return on Wednesday 12th November to repair a broken pipe and to deal with a detached chain in the hydro-break near Alfold Road.

They will also be fitting a non-return flap to the stream outlet alongside Yarrow Close. This was clearly marked on Bellway’s construction plan but it was never fitted by them and so stream water has been flowing back into the Little Meadow system when the stream water level is high.

Worryingly, the stream water has in the past often been polluted with Thames Water’s storm sewage overflows and so the work being done will prevent future ingress.

On 13th March 2025 we warned that the bridge by the playground leading to Leighwood Fields could become slippery in wet weather. We identified that non-slip strips had been fitted only to less than half of the bridge surface during construction by Bellway and so we obtained quotes for fitting strips along the whole length of the bridge. The work was finally completed in June and we asked Bellway to pay for it, which was accepted by them as they had to acknowledge that it should have been built like that from the outset.

It took a lot of chasing up to get the payment, but we finally received reimbursement of £1,177.21 from Bellway at the end of last week.

At the same time as this work was being done, we also asked the contractor to put non-slip strips on the slide mound steps and of course the cost of this additional work has been met by LMC.