On Thu 7 Feb at 5:42pm Nevillman wrote:
I posted on here about a leaking sewer on the downs the other day. It is by the side of the path on landport bottom going up to the race course. There is a manhole that is overflowing. It is now rank as sewage is flowing into the path. Someone helpfully suggested complaining to the district council which I think was good advice as they own the field that sewage is leaking on to. I complete their online complaint form but it keeps telling me an error has occurred. It is also impossible to complain to southern water. I can only spend so long listening to Vivaldi while my phone bill continues to rise. The south downs park authority is just as hard to complain to. Is there anyone on here who lives at the race course who is prepared to take responsibility for this? I am not enjoying smelling your sewage when I walk on the downs.
On Thu 7 Feb at 6:40pm Bert wrote:
Is it a danger to public health ? Maybe change departments or do it the old fashioned way, write a letter ! LDC would probably understand that.
On Thu 7 Feb at 8:13pm David Stanley wrote:
Seeing as it is a danger to children I would notify environmental health via emergency services. It might sound extreme but it's potentially quite serious.
On Thu 7 Feb at 11:50pm A Person wrote:
You can report a leak to Southern Water via their emergency contact number - and this sounds as if it qualifies.
0800 820 999.
Check it out here »
On Fri 8 Feb at 9:08am Jack wrote:
I reported this to Southern water on Sunday morning and got a text message "emergency team Chris will be there within the hour", I think he must have lost his way, so I reported again on Tuesday with similar response tried Email yesterday may be that will work, will try telling plumpton college as it could affect the sheep and maybe they will have more effect.
On Fri 8 Feb at 9:28am Ed Can Do wrote:
Given Plumpton College's history of huge sewage leaks (At least three to date) they might not care too much.
On Fri 8 Feb at 10:09am Nevillman wrote:
Just got off the phone to southern water and they told me it is not their sewer and up to the district council. Tried filling in their online complaints form but it doesn't work. Has anyone managed to do it and any response. I'm a bit reluctant to try the emergency services just yet.
On Fri 8 Feb at 2:22pm Zebedee wrote:
Report it to the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60
On Fri 8 Feb at 3:29pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I've emailed 3 of the councillors on the Landport Bottom Management Committee, let's see if that achieves anything.
Getting in touch with the council these days is an absolute nightmare. The call centre staff seem to be just glorified message takers, they are never able to give any useful advice or info, and the rest of the council never seems to return or act on the messages.
As a matter of principle, I think we should have a concerted campaign of voting out all the sitting councillors at the next election. They've presided over this shambles, after all.
On Fri 8 Feb at 3:36pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I was astonished to get an email back from one fo the councillors.
It was an autoreply saying she's on maternity leave and won't be replying until the end of Feb. We could all be buried under tide of effluent by then!
I think Harveys should offer a pint for the first forum member who manages to get a response from anyone, from any agency, who can sort this out.
On Fri 8 Feb at 3:54pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Bloody hell, after a mere 15 minutes on the phone to the council, I'm told that they are aware of it and it is being dealt with.
Even better, I got the name of the person who is supposedly sorting it out: Simon Burton.
In the meantime, perhaps everyone at the stables and the houses on the old race course would like to stop flushing their lavatories ...
On Fri 8 Feb at 3:58pm bored2 wrote:
Has anyone put it on FB, twitter or whatever and tagged council, environment agency MP etc. Nice picture of raw sewage flowing into the South Downs National Park will make someone do something more than pass the buck.
On Fri 8 Feb at 4:03pm Bert wrote:
Exactly what qualifications do Councillors need these days, apart from plenty of time on their hands ? And I suppose there is a reason for that, no one else wants them !! They need to be thoroughly vetted on the doorstep when they're canvassing. As I told the liberal canvassing for Kelly-Marie Blundell I didn't think she was worth £77,379 a year, she didn't seem to think that was a good enough reason ! I wonder how much she's actually earning now ?
On Fri 8 Feb at 4:32pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
They need at least a GCSE in busybodiness and a BTec in self-importance.
On Sat 9 Feb at 1:01pm Hello wrote:
When are you standing for election?
On Sun 10 Feb at 10:34am Nevillman wrote:
Rudimentary fencing now stopping access to the drain and the worst polluted part. No idea if this means it is being dealt with. From the smell, nothing has been done about the drain yet.
On Mon 11 Feb at 9:06am Ed Can Do wrote:
Local government tends to atract the kind of person who has a desperate need to feel important but has no actual useful skills to warrant that. Generally highly opinionated people whohave been largely ignored most of their life so want a seat on the council so that folk are forced to hear what they say. Essentially, the biggest reason not to allow someone to sit on a council should be that they want to do it, we'd be far better off picking names out of a hat like jury service.
The other problem is the unelected side of the coin where you have several issues, predominantly that the pay isn't all that great for most roles so anyone with a shred of talent goes to the private sector combined with it being really hard to sack incompetent employees leading to department heads getting rid of useless people by getting them a promotion to a different department so eventually the absolute idiots nobody wants end up running things. This is compounded by local government hiriing practices that heavily favour people who've worked in local goverment before so no useful real world experience ever gets recruited in and the same old numptys climb the various greasy poles for lack of decent competition for roles until there's not one person who'd ever acutally land a job in the private sector running everything in County Hall from middle management upwards.
On Mon 11 Feb at 12:01pm Nevillman wrote:
What is your evidence for any of that Ed? My experience of the work of councillors and the people who chose to work in public service is the opposite. In the particular case of the sewage on the downs it sounds to me like it is the owners of the race course properties who are letting the public down.
On Mon 11 Feb at 6:02pm Sussex Jim wrote:
Local councillors are people who have an interest in local affairs, and wish to voluntarily take on the unpaid role of making decisions of planning and other matters. They have to be elected at the appropriate times in Town, District or County Council elections. While we do have excellent independent councillors from time to time; it is usual to be be affilliated to a major political party in order that the electorate can grasp some idea of the candidate's opinions.
Annette Curtin' Twicther- why not put yourself up for local election?
On Tue 12 Feb at 5:46pm Local99 wrote:
I'm with Ed
On Wed 13 Feb at 6:14pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
@Nevillman: I had a voicemail (well, 2 actually) from the council saying that the area was being fenced off and that Southern Water were sorting out the blockage. So were Southern Water lying to you about it not being their responsibility, or are the council lying to me when they say it IS down to Southern Water?
@EdCanDo: In a previous life, I had a career in local government that brought me into close contact with councillors on a daily basis, and I'm afraid that I incline towards your view of the motivation of people who stand for councils. It was a bit different in London, where you got pretty serious politicians on councils, but I daresay that's less likely to be the case nowadays, given that only cabinet members can really change anything.
And while I'm grateful to those who suggest that I stand and give full vent to my busybodiness, my general disenchantment with all levels of government would prevent me from doing anything more useful than shouting "You're all bloody useless" at frequent intervals and getting myself suspended.
Absolutely not for me, I'm afraid, and you should all be thankful. The allowances might be nice though - £3k a year or something, isn't it, plus extra if they actually take responsibility for something?