Campaigners raised the alarm about sewage and the Royal Mail’s plans in Patcham at a “Re-imagine Brighton” event held by Brighton and Hove City Council last night (Monday 25 March).
The event was organised to discuss how to enhance people’s health as part of the council plan for 2023 to 2027.
It had been due to take place in Patcham but was moved to Robert Lodge, in Whitehawk, where concerned Patcham residents went along with two of their ward councillors, Alistair McNair and Anne Meadows.
They said that the Royal Mail’s plans for a depot at Patcham Court Farm could harm the drinking water supply for much of Brighton and Hove.
They also said that the plans could worsen the sewage problems in the Patcham area where the existing pipes struggle to cope with current volumes even before any new building.
Patcham Against Royal Mail campaigners were concerned that the abrupt change of venue might be an attempt by the council to avoid having to address flooding and linked health issues in Patcham – as well as areas such as Woodingdean, Mouslecoomb and Hollingbury.
Mike Howard, co-lead of Patcham Against Royal Mail said: “It is disturbing that Brighton and Hove City Council seems to want to brush one of the city’s most shameful environmental health risks under the carpet and ignore the fact that raw sewage regularly runs through our streets in Patcham.
“If the council were taking our health seriously, they would halt Royal Mail’s abysmal plans for Patcham Court Farm which will put local residents at further risk of sewage leaks and could contaminate our drinking water supply.
“The council need to stop the expensive health risks Royal Mail poses today.”
The campaigners cited a flood risk assessment for the Royal Mail scheme by consultancy firm Mott MacDonald.
It said that the “impermeable area” at Patcham Court Farm would more than double if the new delivery depot scheme went ahead.
This would mean that significantly more flood water would enter the already overloaded sewer network.
Patcham Court Farm is a key part of the aquifer, a natural feature which holds water and is ranked as a “zone 1 source protection zone”, the highest rating given for groundwater absorption.
Patcham Court Farm is also located close to the Waterhall Pumping Station and is part of the “drinking water protected area” which supplies drinking water to more than 116,000 households across Brighton and Hove.
Data from Southern Water obtained under the Environmental Information Regulation – a “freedom of information” type regime – revealed that there have been more than 280 sewage leaks in Patcham since 2020. This equated to an average of at least one incident a week over the past four years.
An independent assessment detected e-coli in Patcham Junior School’s water-logged playing field after heavy downpours of rain in January.
Patcham parents have been reporting that their children smell of sewage and experience sickness bugs after heavy downpours of rain.
Campaigners say that this situation will only get worse if Royal Mail’s plans to build a delivery depot at Patcham Court Farm are allowed to proceed.
The Royal Mail has previously said that it would put in place measures to protect the aquifer, to be agreed by Southern Water, before building the depot.
Councillor Bruno De Oliveira, chair of the council’s Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “The Brighton and Hove Re-imagine events are a pilot engagement programme to bring together people with different views to examine challenges facing the city and to work together to solve.
“Over the last five months, engagement events have been held on graffiti, the ‘cost of living crisis’, violence against women and girls and health and wellbeing.
“We acknowledge the venue change of our latest Re-imagine event on health and wellbeing from Patcham to Whitehawk.
“This decision was made for logistical reasons unrelated to the concerns raised by PARM. Residents from Patcham attended yesterday’s event and highlighted the challenges around flooding and Patcham Court Farm.
“Their concerns and feedback were recorded and will be shared with relevant stakeholders. The event allowed direct participation from residents from a variety of backgrounds and was very well received.”
Councillor De Oliveira added: “We are committed to addressing environmental health issues throughout the city and to continuing open dialogue and collaboration with communities to ensure that all voices are heard and considered through the decision-making process.
“We are currently consulting on the best ways to help our residents play a bigger part in the work of the council and welcome your feedback and views.”
Unfortunately we have to listen to these mongs. But that’s democracy I guess every halfwit has to have their say.
If they were that bothered about sewage in the streets why are they not protesting outside the Southern water depot at falmer for them to fix the sewage system. Why are they not digging up their drive ways, how many of them run their toilets from rainwater storage. Bet none of these noise bags do. It’s just something to do as they have litterly nothing better to do than moan and make interest groups.
Royal mail will be going fully electric with this depot which will be state of the art, that’s a good thing.
The working conditions will be much better for everyone who works for them and add to that it might improve the delivery service, but because a couple of trucks will go into patcham from the back end and a few people will drive to work there, biiiig stink time. It’s so NIMBY it’s unreal.
Residents have been working with our MP Caroline Lucas and Patcham’s two Conservative councillors to get Southern Water to act. Southern Water REFUSE to test for ecoli, REFUSE to tell us their plans for IF they will upgrade Patcham’s sewers. Patcham floods badly every 40 years when it shuts the A23 as it’s in a valley that was formed by the water running down the hills. Royal Mail haven’t looked after their current depot and even have water running into the electrics as our MP saw when she went to it. She has asked Royal Mail why they let it get so run down and made it so bad for their workers. They have yet to respond. Brighton has had past cholera epidemics from the water at Patcham getting contaminated with sewage. That’s why there’s conditions on the Patcham Court Farm site to limit it to low agricultural use and not even battery farming. Residents have asked the council to put eco build council housing on it instead. The council refused that. The residents are genuine and if the Greens and the Tories are working together cross party on this then it’s clear Labour council need to listen to residents because the Greens and Tories couldn’t be further apart. We NEED council housing. Royal Mail have a second site at Shoreham airport identified if Patcham fails. Brighton’s Labour council REFUSED to build council housing or affordable housing on that site. They know the risks. That site has been refused planning permission for industrial use many times due to the risk of flooding and tap water contamination and Labour know that but are ignoring the risks. The Greens and Tories know that too so they are being sensible in supporting residents across party especially because the Labour council have no expert to say its safe to build industrial use on it and the independent experts say it isn’t.
I suggest that you look at the full proposal for the site. Under the farm is an essential aquifer and that was why, over 100 years ago, Brighton Corporation forced the farmer to sell the land to the Brighton Corporation for the benefit of the entire city of Brighton. Over 100 years ago brighton was a much smaller city and there was no cries of “climate warming”!! The majority of the vans may well be electric but with nearly 400 daily staff accessing the site 24 hours a day by car there will be enormous noise, air and traffic pollution. Also there no good local travel links so practically the entire staff will come by car and with only 85 onsite parking places for them where will the 200-300 extra cars park? I doubt very much that the posties can afford electric cars. Also you fail to mention. the HGV’s accessing the site 24 hours a day heading either back up to Gatwick or south into the town centre. I have not heard of any electric HGV’s? The area already gets completely jammed on AMEX match days and there are frequent football and cricket matches on the nearby sports grounds. Where will the out of Brighton visitors be able to park? Numerous complaints have gone in to Southern Water over the flooding and sewage and Southern Water’s remedy is to nail down the manhole covers. Now if they nail them down adequately the excess fresh drinking water diverted from the site coupled with all the extra sewage from the 300-400 daily staff will be pushed further down the London Road adding to the flooding and sewage seepages from the sewers into Preston Park and to the centre of Brighton.
A cllr allowing and encouraging direct participation??? He won’t last long the way his party is going.
the funny thing is that there were at least a dozen paid working members of the Labour Party, if not more, with less than 10 private individuals. Ideas are wonderful but we all know it is complete pie in the sky as the council is making cuts everyday to really essential services so how on earth are they going to fund any of these fanciful dreams?
Cllr Meadows???
Southern Water, the Council and the government need to sort this sewage situation out but it’s another pass the buck game. Money and expertise are needed for a solution but it seems that we are short on those things these days. Seems obvious that this Royal Mail plan will make things worse, why can’t it go on an industrial site in Shoreham or Hollingbury? No doubt the tax payer will have to pay the bill for the problems it would cause in Patcham. Great.