High Wycombe sewage fears as river floods Kingsmead Park

The Chiltern Rangers, a non-profit dedicated to conserving and enhancing the Chiltern Hills, spotted the murky, discoloured water on a footpath at Kingsmead Recreation Ground earlier this week.

While a social media post described it as “a potential sewage incident”, a spokesperson told the Free Press they were “not 100 per cent sure" what had caused the discolouration but had alerted the council, Thames Water and the Environment Agency. 

Adding: “We don’t know if it is sewage or not – it might just be that the water has become stagnant because it’s been sat there for a long time.”

Thames Water, a company that has had its fair share of headlines in recent months, declined to comment directly on the incident but suggested that the flooding was due to the River Wye “bursting its banks” rather than a sewer-related issue.

Commenting on the Chiltern Rangers’ Facebook post, Conservative candidate for Wycombe Steve Baker, who recently returned from a much-publicised trip to Greece ahead of next month’s general election, described the prospect of a sewage leak in the park as “totally unacceptable”.

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Kingsmead Recreation Ground has been heavily waterlogged for months following regular and prolonged periods of rainfall.

A local cricket group reported the issue to Buckinghamshire Council last month after the damp ground was deemed unplayable, despite having no issues in previous years.

Speaking on May 24, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure Clive Harriss said the area was “highly susceptible” to flooding because of its “very high water table and proximity to nearby rivers and streams”.

Adding: “Council officers will monitor the situation and ensure any ground drainage is operating properly, but until the weather improves, the flooding won’t go away.”