Horsell Splash - finally some progress

Huge puddle on Brewery Road
pedestrian crossing 

I took the opportunity of Woking's Joint Committee this week to ask for an update on Horsell Splash.  I have been asking the county council to tackle the huge puddle that appears between the Brewery Road car park entrance and the pedestrian crossing to Footpath 19a for almost 2 years now.  An answer was not available on the night but I got a written reply by email on Friday.

It seems the county may finally be making real progress in tackling this major annoyance and inconvenience for everyone who walks or cycles along this route.

The Problem

As regular users of this route will have noticed there are two elements to this situation.  The initial problem was around the car park entrance.  The road dips at this point. It is my view (though this has not been confirmed) that this was caused by a combination of road resurfacing prior to work beginning on the WWF building and a succession of heavy vehicles going into the building site.

The secondary issue is the spreading of the flooding beyond the car park entrance, across the pedestrian crossing and towards the entrance to Kingswood Court.  This happens when the drain can't cope during heavy or sustained rainfall.

Resolution

Following CCTV investigation in the drain between Brewery Road and the canal the problem was identified as an issue for Thames Water.  Surrey now tell me the drainage was "compromised by the development of the WWF site".  This explains the second part of the problem described above.  Thames Water has been spotted on site investigating the situation but no timescale for remedying the problem has been given.

Huge puddle at entrance to
Brewery Road car park

Once Thames Water has dealt with the drainage problem Surrey plan to install a new gully to drain away the water at the car park entrance.

More Questions

I have gone back and asked if Surrey will be seeking recompense from Wilmott Dixon for the impact work on the WWF site has had on the drainage system and for the likely timing of the blockade being cleared and the new gully installed.

We have progress but we are not there yet.