Residents 'muddling through chaos' during Thames Water works in Clewer Hill Road

Residents are ‘muddling through chaos’ as Thames Water embarks on the latest phase of its water mains upgrade in Clewer Hill Road.

The embattled water company is carrying out a £750,000 water mains repair project following decades of burst pipes and flooding in the area.

Thames Water had faced calls from the town’s Conservative MP Jack Rankin and RBWM council leader Simon Werner to tackle the problem.

Work got underway in September to install new plastic pipes which Thames Water claim will be ‘much stronger and more resilient’ and tackle ongoing leaks. The company said it was able to complete the first three phases of the project ahead of schedule and subsequently brought forward the final programme of works, which started on Monday, January 5.

But the utility firm has faced criticism over its ‘dire communication’ for the latest phase of works, which are set to cause major disruption in the area until February 24.

A major diversion route will be in place for drivers for several weeks due to the closure of Clewer Hill Road at its busy junction with Winkfield Road.

Royal Borough councillor Helen Price (Independent, Clewer and Dedworth East) said only a small number of residents were notified about the works and questioned a lack of notice over the festive period.

Cllr Price added that no consideration was taken over issues such as the need to re-route buses serving the area.

She said: “People will get used to it and they will adapt. But what was really important was at the beginning everything went smoothly. But it hasn’t, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. In the traditional English way, we’ll muddle through chaos because we can’t plan things properly and we can’t communicate.”

Drivers who are unable to turn into Clewer Hill Road at the junction with Winkfield Road will have to follow a lengthy diversion via Imperial Road and Dedworth Road over the next six weeks.

Bus services in the area have also been impacted with Carousel Buses re-routing its 37 and 37A services away from Clewer Hill Road to Dedworth Road. Thames Valley Buses has diverted its 1/1A service via Hatch Lane but Councillor Price said this had caused significant disruption due to the narrow nature of the road and parked cars close to Hilltop School.

A spokesperson for Thames Water thanked residents and businesses for their patience during the major project.

The company said it had assigned a dedicated customer liaison officer to the area who had delivered letters and visited schools and businesses to
discuss the impact of the works.

A statement added: “We aim to keep disruption to a minimum whilst the works meet completion and want to thank residents, businesses and schools for their cooperation.

“This is part of a £1.1million project to replace more than three kilometres of water pipes that will reduce the chances of bursts and leaks and is part of our biggest network upgrade in 150 years that we are carrying out over the next five years.”