By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Village streets are being “flooded with excrement” as the sewage system cannot cope with hundreds of new homes, according to residents.
People living in Twigworth, Innsworth and Longford are extremely concerned as the areas have seen a lot of housing development in recent years with more planned.
And they are worried by the prospect of hundreds more new houses being added to their chronically failing sewerage network.
For over two weeks fields and footpaths between the three villages have been “flooded with excrement”, they said.
And tankers are trying to relieve the system, scooping up as much of the foul excess as they can.
Some of these lorries are drawing sewage out of manholes in streets, filling what should be quiet residential areas with smell, noise, and large vehicles.
Villagers say they have no idea how long this is going to continue.
“Is this what we have to expect indefinitely? Try as we have, we cannot get any information from the tanker drivers, or from the borough council,” Longford Parish Councillor Rick Harris said.
One resident of Twigworth Green said: “I walk the dogs in the fields regularly and, as soon as the heavy rains started, the water in the fields began to smell of sewage. You can see several areas where it is clearly bubbling up from below the surface and the smell is unmistakeable.”
Others report their properties have been suffering from blocked sewers and drains. Twigworth has two sewerage networks, and neither are coping, they say.
One has failed for decades while the other is virtually brand new. And Twigworth Parish Council say they have asked Tewkesbury Borough Council several times for an update on Longford pumping station, where they believe the problem lies, and claim they are not getting a reply.
“We have been asking for two things,” Twigworth Parish Council chairman George Sharpley said.
“An update on the immediate crisis, and secondly that hundreds of new houses due to be added to these failing networks will be held back until the problems are properly sorted. I’ve had no reply to emails or phone messages. People are angry, and worried.”
Councillor Sarah Hands (LD, Innsworth), who is the lead member for planning and placemaking at the Borough Council, said they are aware of the recent sewage incident and understand how upsetting and disruptive this must be for residents.
“The Environment Agency is leading the investigation, and our Environmental Health team is working closely with them to monitor the situation,” they said.
“Severn Trent Water (STW) is responsible for maintaining the drainage network and ensuring that it can cope with new development.
“STW is also consulted on all relevant planning applications, and their advice helps guide our decisions.
“We have raised concerns about poor sewerage capacity in parts of the borough with Severn Trent on several occasions.
“We’ll continue to ensure that both Severn Trent and the Environment Agency are notified as quickly as possible about further pollution incidents.
“We understand that Severn Trent is looking at the issues in the area and solutions for how the sewerage network can be improved. We would urge this to be prioritised.”
A Severn Trent Water spokesperson said they are working with developers on the underlying issue and have invested heavily to improve the network.
“Since 2020 we’ve invested heavily to increase capacity across the network, including major upgrades at local treatment works and pumping stations so it can help manage additional growth in the area. Investigations show our system is operating as it should, but we’re working with local developers on an underlying issue,” they said.
“This has caused the recent flooding and is not a capacity issue. While this is being fixed, tankers are being used as a short‑term measure to help manage the situation, as we work towards a permanent solution.
“We will continue to liaise closely with the developers, local councils and keep customers updated as we work together.”