Council Discusses ‘Saga’ Of Issues With 132-Home Shoreham Development

A Shoreham development has seen waste water breach its flood defences.

Adur District Council’s planning committee heard at its meeting on Monday, January, 15, that the completed 132-home development at Mariner Point, 79-81 Brighton Road, had seen a ‘long-running saga’ of issues according to council officers.

They said the developers had been served a breach of condition notice for failing to do the landscaping outline in the conditions of the original planning permission, and that effluent, or waste water, had been swept over the top of flood defences at Surrey Hard during a storm.

A video was shown to the committee of the flooding, showing the effluent and flood water overtopping the flood defences.

The development’s underground car park was also flooded, with the committee hearing an incorrectly installed flood gate, cracks in the flood walls, not enough surface water drainage and flood water from the coast contributed to it.

Officers said flooding occurred after a ‘once-in-200-year’ weather event in October caused a 6.6-metre high wave, mixing with effluent potentially coming from overwhelmed sewage networks or from houseboats.

Mariners Point flood defence wall and flood gate - Adur and Worthing Council

Developers had built new flood defences at Surrey Hard as part of the approved planning permission for the development, but were later ordered to increase the height of the defences by 30cm, which members and residents claimed was not finished to the required height.

Vee Barton (Con, Peverel) said claiming floods like this would happen once in 200 years ‘obviously doesn’t make any sense now’, and that the flood wall was ‘so low’ that it was ‘obvious’ water would go over it.

Cat Arnold (Lab, St Mary’s), speaking as the member for the affected ward, said the developers had not built the required 30cm, saying there was no current agreement for who would maintain the wall.

Gabe Crisp (Green, St Nicholas) saying she went to see Surrey Hard and the increased wall height ‘could not have been more than 20cm’.

One resident said insurance premiums for residents would go up if Surrey Hard continued to be a ‘weak point’ in Shoreham’s flood defences, potentially costing them thousands of pounds.

Officers said costs of flood defences due to climate change and building costs, were becoming ‘more and more onerous every year’, saying the council might have to step in to maintain, or fill gaps in, flood defences if necessary.

The planning committee imposed a condition on developers that landscaping on the development would need to be finished by this planting season or receive another breach of condition notice – including changes to the ramp into the car park to better protect it from surface water.

Officers said they would come back to the committee with a report on how to address the flood defences in Shoreham, including the source of the effluent.