Lewes MP criticises Southern Water for work outside school during first days of term: head says traffic problems have been ‘aggravated’

Liberal Democrat James MacCleary said the utility company started work ‘right outside’ Iford and Kingston C of E Primary School on Wellgreen Lane as its pupils were set to return.

He said the work site is close to a ‘well-known longstanding issue’ that floods Kingston village every year.

The MP added that Southern Water’s works involve temporary traffic lights on a stretch of road that already suffers from ‘acute parking and congestion problems’ during the school’s pick-up and drop-off times.

Mr MacCleary said on Tuesday, September 8: “They have had all summer to do this work. I have contacted them to get an idea of why it needs doing now and how long it’s going to take as it needs doing quickly. For some children and parents this will be their first day of school and the last thing they need is Southern Water making it more stressful.

“Iford and Kingston is typical of many of our local village primaries that have serious parking and traffic issues during the school run. I will be expecting an explanation from Southern Water on why today, of all days, seemed like the right one to them to undertake this work.”

A notice on Southern Water’s map of works at www.southernwater.co.uk was updated for Wellgreen Lane on September 1. It said: “We are aware of a reported leak within this vicinity. Our inspector will investigate this and if deemed to be a fault on a Southern Water asset, schedule for this to be repaired. At Southern Water, we take leakage seriously. If you see a leak, please use our site to report it.”

Southern Water has since confirmed it is fixing a water pipe.

Lewes District Councillor Stella Spiteri (Kingston ward) said: “Everyone who lives here knows that the village gets very congested at school run times – particularly at pick up. I know I wasn’t the only resident who was astonished to see them setting up the lights on Sunday.”

She said: “Given the disruption we will have to deal with in the coming days, I really hope they address the wider issues at that location with flooding every year. It has been raised numerous times and they haven’t sorted it. If they cause all this trouble and leave without sorting it there will be a lot of anger locally.”

According to the school’s website, the start of term for pupils was Thursday, September 3.

Head of School Matt Dean told this newspaper on Wednesday, September 9, that Southern Water had said work should finish on Thursday, September 10. An alert about the work at one.network also said this was the end date for the ‘utility repair and maintenance works’.

Mr Dean said: “The road is already very difficult to manage because it’s used for parents for drop-off.”

He said the work by Southern Water has ‘just aggravated the problem’.

Mr Dean said parents have designated spaces where they can park and said The Juggs pub in Kingston kindly lets parents use its car park for morning drop-offs. But he said Wellgreen Lane still becomes ‘a bit of a rat run’ for drivers ‘cutting through’. He said: “There’s lots of vans in the morning as well. We’ve had Highways out, I’ve spoken to various people in East Sussex about looking at traffic calming measures, but it’s a really tricky road in the mornings and it does end up causing quite a lot of difficulty with people getting agitated trying to get their children to school.”

A spokesperson at Southern Water said: “Our teams are repairing a water pipe, near Iford & Kingston Primary school, which is affecting several properties with low pressure. Traffic management enables our workers carry out the work safely. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to the school, residents and commuters and thank them for their patience.

“We are currently investigating the Ham Lane area in Lewes. Our aim will be to reduce both the flooding and storm overflow discharges and are gathering information to make a positive plan for the future.”