The Thames Ditton air will be alive with the sound of pneumatic drills from late September to the end of the year. And the disturbance will all be in a good cause.
At last, The Thames Water Flood Alleviation Scheme is coming. And not before time many would say. The Residents' Association has campaigned for what seems like many summers for recognition of and action to prevent the virtual annual flooding of parts of our village.
Site for new underground pumphouse
The Thames Water Scheme will be a joint Claygate / Thames Ditton set of works as both villages' outflow goes to the Esher Works. The total cost is £9.5 million. A underground pumping station will be dug and installed on and under a site on the recreation land at the Speer, Summer and Aragon junction.
This proposal gave rise to considerable angst among many local residents who feared an enormous bunker was to be built. The station is large but underground. The above ground inspection chamber will be camouflage painted as best as possible. It is essential to the project. There is a working example of this type of structure on the green opposite Molesey Police Station. It is not small but not as bad as feared.
The pipe work down Speer Road needs to be as straight as possible so sometimes it will be on the left and some times on the right. Obviously it will be done in rolling stages. Temporary traffic lights will control the one way workings.
The piping under The High Street will be upgraded. There is, as they, "at last light at the end of the tunnel".
Edward Rowe