Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change has said he has ‘every sympathy’ with those impacted by the recent flooding in Chalfont St Peter.

At the back end of September/start of October, parts of the village were badly affected after heavy rain caused havoc in the area.

This is just one of many occurrences to have hit the civil parish this calendar year, as roads have been closed due to ongoing flooding and sewage issues.

Most notably in January and February, when some businesses had to close for several days due to the sheer level of water entering their premises.

Residents were also impacted by flooding, as rainwater overpowered the village’s sewage system, causing human waste to appear on the streets and in some cases, inside people’s sinks.

Thomas Broom, who is Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, said: “We have every sympathy with the residents and businesses of Chalfont St Peter who are again being impacted by flooding.

“We are pressing Thames Water, as the lead agency for this issue, to find solutions to this situation which is caused by poor and ageing infrastructure within their network.

“Contrary to suggestions, the council does consult Thames Water in all major planning applications.

“Chalfont St Peter is one of the council’s pilot areas as part of ‘Project Groundwater’, a £7 million scheme to explore the causes of and ultimately, to mitigate groundwater flooding.

“In the meantime, we continue to push hard for solutions and in the short term, are seeking ways to keep the High Street open in the event of further flooding.

“We know this must be an ongoing frustration for local people and we continue to push Thames Water for long-term solutions.”

However, those solutions could be solved after Thames Water have unveiled a new plan to try and prevent sewer flooding in Misbourne Valley.

The multi-million-pound scheme will see the following changes:

  • Changes to West Hyde sewage pumping station to allow more wastewater to be pumped to Maple Lodge STW.  
  • Installing flow monitors to better understand where groundwater and surface water is getting into our sewers. 
  • Continuation of work to seal manholes in the area to stop surface water and river water entering the sewer. 
  • Lining sewers to prevent groundwater from entering the system 
  • Installing a new micro-filtration system at the Amersham storm tanks to reduce the impact of spills to the River Misbourne. 

This comes after 350 people attended the Gold Hill Hub in April to express their grievances in an open meeting with members from Thames Water and Buckinghamshire Council.

Danny Leamon, Waste Performance Director for Thames Valley and Home Counties at Thames Water said: “We know last winter was extremely difficult. 

“Over the summer, we have been working hard with local stakeholders to devise a range of solutions to reduce the risk of sewer flooding and protect the environment.   

“The £2.5 million investment we are announcing today will help minimise overflows from manholes and sewers and help protect the village during the wetter months of the year.   

“We are sorry for any disruption caused by these necessary works, however, we hope that, by creating a new access point for our tankers now, we will be able to stop future disruptions to the community during heavy rainfall. 

“Flooding in the area will take many years to mitigate, multi stakeholder engagement and extensive investment, but we do see this as a positive step in the right direction.”