Woman fears her Grade II listed home could be flooded by boggy leak

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A woman fears it will only be a “matter of time” before her house is flooded or a child drowns after a leak in a public park beside her home has left her garden looking like a “muddy bog”.

Anyssa Neumann, 38, has lived in Watermen’s Square, just off the high street in Penge, Bromley, for 10 years.

Ms Neumann said she first noticed problems in February, after seeing her garden “saturated” with water.

She said: “It won’t drain naturally, it needs to be pumped away. It’s currently draining naturally into my ground floor and basement bedroom. It’s only a matter of time before my house starts to flood.”

The resident said the leak began in the neighbouring park in June 2021, but that she started contacting Thames Water and Bromley council in February due to the problems in her garden.

Ms Neumann said Thames Water workers visited last month, but are unable to work in the public park unless given permission by Bromley council.

She said: “Gradually over the months, the park turned into a swamp. You can see standing water, looking like a foggy lake. The grounds are Bromley council land, but the Thames Water guy said this is unsafe for children and animals and that nobody should be going around here.”

The 38-year-old said she is worried the leak could damage the foundations to her office which is located in a separate building from her house. She also said impacts on her home could be very expensive as her house is Grade II listed, with repairs being an “absolute planning nightmare”.

She said: “My garden is like a muddy bog. It ebbs and flows, but there’s always standing water in the garden. With rainwater, the grounds are completely saturated here.”

The resident said she is also worried about local children falling into the leak in the square beside her home.

Ms Neumann said getting somebody from the council to look at the issue has been “incredibly hard”. The resident said she has raised the problem many times by both email and meeting councillors in person.

Dan Whistler, 50, said he has lived in the estate for just over a year. Aside from the “to-ing and fro-ing” between Thames Water and Bromley council, Mr Whistler said he was also worried about children being in danger from the leak.

He said: “What I’m concerned about is I’ve got a five-year-old daughter. I was really worried about her or her friends playing in that area because God knows what’s going to happen.”

A Thames Water spokesman said: “We have responded to reports of a water leak in Watermen’s Square in Penge. A team of engineers have attended to investigate the leak numerous times since January 2023. They found the leak is located on a private pipeline, and is therefore the responsibility of the property owner who will need to make arrangements for the repair.

“Finding and fixing leaks is a top priority, with over 1,300 repairs made each week – that’s one leak every 7.5 minutes.”

Bromley council was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Anyssa Neumann, 38, shown in her back garden in Watermen’s Square, Penge (Picture: Joe Coughlan)