Welshpool responds to “heinous” playpark sewage spill
Last night’s Services and Property Committee meeting was stunned to be told by Operations Manager, Paul McGrath, that sewage had “spilled out over half the playground” at Maesydre during a recent downpour.
“It wasn’t pleasant,” he said. “But, thankfully, Severn Trent turned up to unblock the drain and cleaned all the mess up as best they could. And we have been there since to do our best to tidy up.”
The issue was picked up by last night’s stand-in Chair, Cllr David France, who said: “It sounds quite dire and dangerous. Did they tell you what caused it and whether it will happen again?
“It is near a school, so I feel this is especially heinous. We should write to engage with the water company to find out if anything can be done to reassure us and to reassure the children, parents and teachers that they are going to try and stop this happening again.”
Mr McGrath said it wasn’t a one-off issue.
“To be honest, that drain blocks periodically,” he said. “Unfortunately, I believe Welshpool is built on bogs and marshes etc. so when this amount of rain comes down there is literally nowhere for it to go. Especially after the wettest 18 months we have had on record, I heard on the news the other day. You are putting a lot of water on saturated ground.”
Cllr Sally Fitzgerald pointed out that it was becoming an issue across the town too.
Councillors backed Cllr France’s call for answers from Severn Trent, with the Town Council to write to their local subsidiary, Hafren Dyfrydwy.
On a brighter note, Mr McGrath added that the new fencing at the playpark was now completed.
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