For the last 5 weeks Thames water has been sending its Water Tank lorries and vans all the way from Camberley to fill up from standpipes on a residential cul-de-sac in Finchampstead, particularly at unsociable hours, creating a combination of loud noise from equipment and vehicles between 6am and after 11pm. Nearly every day, several times a day Watkins Close and previously at Chivers Drive.
We’ve spoken to resident Matthew Shaw, who has meticulously documented Thames Water’s activity directly outside his house as well as their shameful correspondence.
The disruption began on the 29th of April when at 6.43am a heavy-duty water tanker arrives with crew to fill up. The loud clanking of metal equipment, the rushing sound of water filling the tanker, and the high-pitched beeping of reversing alarms woke multiple households opposite the standpipe location, positioned on the curved pavement of a junction. For many of Watkins Close’ residents this incident and the many that followed have woken them hours before they were due to begin their days, interrupting much needed sleep.
This pattern has continued for the past five weeks, multiple tankers filling up almost every day between the hours of 6am and 11pm, leaving residents constantly on edge because of the ongoing intrusion, going to bed dreading being awoken by the anti-social sounds of Thames Water failing to respect decent boundaries.
Mr Shaw initially contacted Thames Water on the 10th of May to lodge a serious complaint against the “ongoing and highly disruptive commercial use of Thames Water vehicles on Watkins close… having persisted for an extended period and is now having a significant an unacceptable impact on our health, well-being, safety, and our fundamental right to peace and quiet in our own home”. Alongside extensive evidence of the disruption.
Thames Water took nine days to respond and attempt to address these concerns; by assuring Mr Shaw they “take matters such as these very seriously”, despite this same disturbance continuing.
What followed were other emails filled with hypocritical statements like; “The behaviour and level of disruption you’ve described are completely unacceptable and don’t reflect the standards we expect from any of our employees or operational activities”, all the while Tankers still turned up multiple times a day to fill up, despite the detrimental impact on residents.
Even after being directly questioned about authorisation to use these residential standpipes daily for commercial business, to which they acted as if they had been caught in a guilty act, and packed up and left without filling.
At no point have these operations appeared to serve the needs of the residents being inconvenienced, activity which may have been understandable in the circumstances of an emergency, drought or present construction site, which this is not.
What may be called half the root of the issue is that Thames Water’s use of these residential standpipes has been sanctioned by Aquam Water Services, through their Hydrant Finder app, providing the crew from Thames Water with the closest authorised location to access at their convenience. This calls into question, why has there been no distinction between residential stand pipes and depots where these water tanks where previously filled, leaving residents to suffer for the commercial gain of a multi-billion pound company.
With Thames Valley operations and customer service team failing to make any difference to the situation Mr Shaw resorted to escalation, in the form of building a case for statutory nuisance (Section 79(1)(g), Environmental Protection Act 1990 “noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance”.
Wokingham Borough Council where also contacted, regarding the disturbance and Thames Water’s lack of action, to which they directly contacted the Thames Water area manager to tell them work cannot be completed in the hours outside of 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 8-1pm on Saturdays.
And despite the councils input another noisy incident from Thames Water Tankers occurred the following day at 7.20am on Sunday the 23rd, only hoping to worsen their reputation.
The Council have continued their investigation into the activity and monitor the situation for potential enforcement procedures and persist in advocating for the affected residents.
Thames Waters final correspondence where they seem to close the case, agrees to avoid Watkins close for these operational needs. However, the issue has only moved to another residential area in Finchampstead causing the same issues. Heather Close and Carolina Place are similarly unsuitable for the same reasons.
How they fail to see that this behaviour no matter where it is being conducted is unacceptable and unsustainable is shocking, they have communicated no plans to adjust their process or future planning to avoid residential disruption or reintegrate a suitable depo for their needs, as they were using prior to May 29th.
The continued tanker refilling makes these locations prone to infrastructure issues. In one instance a Thames Water van parked at Watkins Close blocking five houses’ driveways. A resident asked them to move so they could access their home. Mid-filling, they hurriedly left, leaving the hydrant open. This caused water to flow out, flooding a telephone conduit, disrupting neighbours’ broadband, damaging a new patio, and causing internal water pressure problems in some homes. These situations add additional distress to residents, who then must try to claim damages, on top of a loss of communication services.
If you have been affected by similar Thames Water operations in your neighbourhood, now is the time to make your voice heard. Contact the council, record the impact on your household and submit any evidence you may have. Only by demonstrating the full extent of the disruption across multiple communities can residents ensure that concerns are taken seriously and that Thames Water is held accountable for its actions.
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