Raunds family’s flood ‘nightmare’ as they demand action after sewage water swamps house for the sixth time

Flash floods that swept sewage through a Raunds home have left a family of five with another huge clear-up bill and demanding answers about why £230,000 mitigation work failed.

Despite Helen and Ashley Northway urgently swinging into action during last week’s torrential rain, with floodgates and submersible pumps, their defences at the former farmhouse were overwhelmed.

Six days after being exposed to the raw sewage, and chemicals to treat the contamination, the Northways, their 10-month-old daughter, 89-year-old grandmother and disabled son have been diagnosed with chest infections.

Mrs Northway said: “We are all very sick now. Yesterday, all five members of my household had to be assessed by an emergency doctor and prescribed antibiotics for chest infections, following exposure to the raw sewage, and thereafter chemicals to treat it.

"My husband has been coughing up blood. With vulnerable people including my elderly grandmother and young baby being affected with chest infections, I am not willing to allow this to drag on as there is serious risk to health, let alone the property damage.”

It is not the first time that the couple have called for action.

In August 2021 Northamptonshire Highways corrected faults in misconnected sewage pipes and constructed two large soakaways to absorb surface water.

Because Mrs Northway’s North Street property is in a natural dip, the road outside her home has become the natural end point for surface water unable to use a damaged culvert.

During heavy rain, surface water cascades down the incline of Brick Kiln Road joining run-off from the new Northdale Park estate pouring into North Street.

Their home was last devastated in December 2020 when their stone farmhouse filled with sewage water.

Since the road repairs were carried out the family have called out the fire brigade to pump water from the street outside their home into the nearby brook multiple times.

They also have a ‘hotline’ number to Northamptonshire Highways as they have been told the membranes used in the flood mitigation efforts clog up with debris.

Flooding has dogged the North Street, Rotten Row and Brick Kiln Road area for years, but Mrs Northway says the problem has reached crisis levels since a major housing development of more than 400 new homes.

She said: “We’ve had Drainline come in excess of 20 times in the last year. It takes them two hours and I estimate it costs £2,000 a time coming out of taxpayers’ money.

“The flooding is worse than it’s ever been. This has been the worst since the Christmas floods. We keep an eye on it all the time. We can’t go on holiday and we’ve had to come back early from a funeral because it started to rain.

"During the latest floods, my grandmother was so distressed she was crying and crying and saying ‘I want to be dead, I want to be dead’.

"It’s horrific. There’s a threat to human health – mental and physical.

"North Northants Council settled our claim of £330,000 by way of insurers Gallagher Bassett for the last flood. We are uninsurable for floods now. The house has been valued at between £850,000 and £900,000 but its worthless now. We’ve worked all our lives, my husband has served the country but what are our children going to be left with?”

Such was the rapid flow of water cascading down North Street, and despite Mr Northway rushing home to set up their submersible pumps, the water rose too quickly.

Mr Northway, a retired army sergeant major and bomb disposal expert, said: "I’ve served all over the world but I only have nightmares about the floods. It’s having an effect on us all.”

Raunds residents reported seeing a ‘heavy flow of water’ running directly from the Northdale Park site at the main entrance to the development in Brick Kiln Road.

Tom Pursglove, MP for Corby and East Northants, has been in contact with Mrs Northway and has been working to find a solution to the flooding issues.

He said: “Like them, I am very concerned that, despite mitigation measures being put in place, families in this part of Raunds are continuing to suffer from the flooding of their homes, which is of course devastating and extremely shocking, not least given the fact that this invariably happens quickly and without warning.

“Over recent years, I have had various meetings with residents, the local authority and the relevant local developer, to discuss the concerns regarding Brick Kiln Road and the surrounding area and, at my most recent meeting on this matter, I was optimistic that a resolution had been found.

"However, the very significant rainfall of the last couple of days has highlighted that more arguably needs to be done to prevent further flooding of local residents’ homes, and efforts must be redoubled by the local authority and the developer to address it. I am making this argument accordingly in the strongest of terms.

“Ultimately, they need to come forward, with proper consultation, and be clear about what will now be done to find an appropriate resolution once and for all, so that residents do not have to worry about their homes each time there is significant rainfall. That peace of mind is vital. Indeed, any new development must take flooding risk fully into account and any mitigation schemes must be sufficiently robust to address it.”

Letters have been sent from Mr Pursglove to North Northamptonshire Council, and Anglian Water, asking them to review concerns as a ‘matter of urgency’.

It is hoped that a section 278 agreement (s278), a section of the Highways Act 1980 that allows developers to enter into a legal agreement with the council (in their capacity as the Highway Authority) to make permanent alterations or improvements to a public highway, as part of a planning approval, will be agreed to resolve the issue.

A North Northants Council spokesman said: “Investigations are ongoing due to the cause of flooding to the property. Kier Highways has been managing the road flooding on a reactive basis to protect the property, while an s278 is agreed.

"North Northamptonshire Council has been working with the developer responsible for progressing the development and arranging works to progress the s278 as quickly as possible."