Stratford Shopping Centre flood latest

Thames Water have now identified the source of the leak outside Stratford Shopping Centre and have repaired the faulty pipe. Water to the area has been restored with few reports of supply issues.

Homes and businesses may however experience low pressurem in particular blocks above 20 storeys.

Bottled water remains available at the Gala Bingo car park along the High Street. Thames Water will advise via social media when the supply point will close.

It is expected to take some time to fully reinstate the road surface outside the shopping centre. Some bus routes stay re-routed but traffic has been flowing normally. The management at Stratford Shopping Centre continue with their clean-up but the centre has re-opened as public highway. Newham’s street population outreach team are patrolling this evening. 
 
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: “What we’ve had is disruption and chaos for a lot of our residents and significant loss of trade for approximately 50 businesses inside Stratford Shopping Centre, and others nearby who have been without water.
 
“My question to Thames Water is why it took them so long to effect a repair. This work clearly could have started on Saturday evening when it was first reported not only by me as a resident, but by the management of the centre. It was very clear at that point that there was a problem because water was flowing into the centre. This is a busy shopping centre with a number of businesses wanting to make money. Nothing was done in the first instance and I want to know why.
 
“Prior to the 2012 Games there was a huge amount of investment by Thames Water in this area to ensure mains and the flow of water was in a fit condition. Now exactly six years from the Games, we are encountering significant issues that have caused major disruption to local businesses, left many residents in two boroughs with either no water or low pressure, and who now have to go to a car park some distance from they live to collect bottled water.
 
“It hasn’t escaped me that Thames Water were recently ordered to pay £120 million to compensate customers over their failure to manage leaks. Residents have also been frustrated by the lack of information from them. They really need to sharpen up their act. I will be asking my colleagues at the council through a scrutiny process to look at this matter in terms of what Thames Water did and also what we did as a council to mitigate some of the potential worst effects that could have impacted on some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Published: 30 Jul 2018