Community rallies to solve St Peter flooding problems

John Norris of the Chiltern Society said: "Many of us here will remember spring 2001 indeed it went on to summer 2001 when this village was flooded. I think the lasting memory was the sewage - it was raw sewage with the usual measure of tampons and condoms."
Problems with overflowing sewage were caused by rainwater running into foul sewers - not the capacity of the pipes Thames Water network manager Simon Rawles told worried villagers, many of whom had been affected by flooding.
He said:" There's no point in making the pipes bigger here - you would have to follow it all the way down to the sewage treatment plants and that would cost billions."
The water company would take away residents' comments and investigate the issues raised, he added.
Lower Road resident, Andy Jennings, said: "It was pouring in. Because all the drains are blocked the water doesn't go anywhere. I had about seven neighbours helping me bail it out in August. Luckily the rain stopped. Had I not been in the house when all the floors would have been ruined and I would have had to move out."
Kenneth Arton, a committee member for the Chalfont St Peter Chamber of Commerce, said: "We have got a lot of problems from the foul sewer flooding the shops. It's what I expected, they have given answers without any commitment."
Parish council chairman Richard Allen, who called the meeting, said: "I think we know what we need to look at now. Everybody was ringing up different agencies and getting different answers and it wasn't making any sense. Hopefully this will get to the root of it. The problem is the sewer is overflowing. Hopefully they will discover where the water is coming from."