Prison sewage floods garden
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The Isle of Portland, just off the Dorset coast, is probably most famous for its distinctive stone used to build St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.
Gill Ward bought her house here in 2005. Her home has a beautiful view overlooking the sea and a lovely back garden for her and her mum to potter about in.
Gill's house is also about 100 yards from HM Portland Prison where inmates have been held since 1848.
Unpleasant smell
A few months after moving in, Gill started to smell something very, very unpleasant. She discovered that there was a manhole hidden underneath the patio in the middle of her back garden. The manhole was overflowing with raw sewage, the source of which turned out to be the neighbouring prison.
When the prison's drains become blocked and overflow, raw sewage floods Gill's back garden with "very smelly, very slimy" results.
The effects are felt by Gill's neighbours too. Martin Jones Gill has lived next to Gill since she moved in. He says it affects him because he can't use his garden either: "We have to accommodate the smell by coming out the front. The pictures can't really do it justice because pictures don't give you the scale of the problem or the smell that comes with it."
Still waiting for a solution
Over the course of three years the manhole cover has overflowed several times. Gill has written to the prison and to the Ministry of Justice to try and resolve the issue but when we caught up with her she was still waiting for a solution and a date for when the problem would be fixed.
So, we invited Henry Eldred, a forensic engineer and surveyor to look at the problem. He reckons it's down to the type of material the pipes are constructed from. He can't understand why Gill has had to put up with the stink for so long. He thinks everything could be put right in just a few days.
The Ministry of Justice response
Watchdog contacted The Ministry of Justice who said that: "We are sorry for any distress and inconvenience that Mrs Gillian Ward may have suffered - we have sent contractors to the property a number of times and attempts to solve the problem have only cleared the blockages temporarily. The latest incident revealed the blockage to be caused by a mop head and an accumulation of grease and fat which are inappropriate items to be flushed into drainage systems.
"We have appointed a specialist consultant and commissioned a detailed CCTV examination of the sewer. We are now arranging to expose the defective section of pipe so that our specialist can investigate further and determine what work is required to fix the problem. We would anticipate the work being done during January 2009 and in the meantime will arrange a precautionary clean of the drain to reduce the risk of flooding before then."
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
After spending 140 Million Quid doing up the palatial offices of Jack Straw and Co, at the Ministry of Justice, there's probably very little left in the coffers for doing this work.
Don't hold your breath.
On second thoughts, do.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
After seeing this awful item I feel really sorry for the lady with the sewage in her garden. Surely this is now a public health issue. Why aren't environmental health kicking up a fuss ? The people in these houses should be temporarily re-homed until the problem has been sorted and if it isn't, they presumably won't be able to sell their homes so they should be compensated. Perhaps if someone is really ill or dies as a result of coming into contact with the sewage, something will finally be done, either way the situation is totally unacceptable - so shocking !!! I wouldn't put up with it !!!
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Surely an infringement of Mrs Ward's human rights!
Art 3 - Degrading treatment
Art 8 - Respect for family life.
I think a strongly worded letter to that effect by herself or her solicitor would bring results.
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PITCHFIBRE PIPES! I have a whole 25+ year estate next to me. Is that one of the reasons we've been flooded internally with sewage 6 times in 2 years? Its taken Thames Water this long to dig up the road at the front of our home. So say because they have a statuary duty to resolve sewage flooding but are not liable. The House of Lords set a precedent with a case in 2003. Some things need to be changed.
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There must be more to this story that we did not hear about on the programme.
The drains are surely the responsibility of the local water company not the prison? I am also concerned that the BBC can bring in an "expert" who can look down a manhole and ascertain the extent of the problem and remedial works required. Did the BBC do a CCTV survey or was this just guess work?
More information required BBC.
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I note the comment by wwwgunn and I am also some what surprised by the lack of action by the local council’s (Purbeck District Council?) Environmental Health Department. Section 59 of the Building Act 1984 places a duty on the Council to investigate any drain or private sewer that may be a nuisance or prejudicial to health and if it is found to be serve a legal notice requiring works. The typical period specified on such a Notice is 3 months. Failure to comply is a criminal offence
Whilst the Notice cannot be enforced as the Prison has crown immunity, The Ministry of Justice would not like to be outside the law. Also section 59 is a duty and as such is not optional the Council has to investigate and serve Notice. However, many Council’s are ignoring this duty in order to save costs or because they don’t have the qualified staff. What the programme did not make clear was if Environmental Health has investigated and if so why they had not investigated.
I would advise Ms Ward to complain to Environmental Health Department and if they take action then to local government ombudsman.
Regarding the comment by Andy the pipe is legally defined as a drain as it only serves a single cartilage and no its no it is not necessarily the responsibility of the ‘Water company’.
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To reduce the smell and its attraction of flies, she could use cover material such as sawdust. Planting a reed bed could help - see the book, "Humanure Handbook", for further information.
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