Campaigners in Ealing have welcomed Greater London Authority funding for a dedicated officer to tackle illegal sewage misconnections after investigations uncovered pollution from housing developments, including two in the borough.
The misconnections at Research House in Perivale and Astha Court in Greenford have now been fixed and are no longer discharging sewage into the River Brent, according to campaigners.
EALING.NEWS reported in November 2024 that two housing developments in the borough had been flushing sewage directly into the River Brent, with neither of the problems fixed at the time.
The new officer will help identify and tackle misconnections across London. The funding was announced by Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy Mete Coban during a visit to Costons Brook in Ealing’s Brent River Park.
Astha Court was built in 2014 and Research House in 2017, with campaigners saying it is likely the misconnections existed from the start. The owners of Astha Court were notified by Thames Water in April 2018 and those responsible for Research House in September 2024.
Ben Morris, Brent River Park Charity trustee and founder of Clean Up the River Brent (CURB), said: “Until now, the response of some local authorities has not been good enough. It’s been too easy for them to sit back and do nothing, which is why these cases have gone on for so long.”
Research by CURB and Friends of the River Crane Environment identified seven housing developments with sewage misconnections affecting the rivers Brent and Crane. Campaigners say four developments in Barnet and Harrow are still discharging sewage.
Further research has identified more than 2,000 misconnections across London, with Brent River Park Charity calling for councils, Thames Water, the Environment Agency and the GLA to work together to identify and correct illegal connections.
Mr Morris added: “New misconnections are still being created. There is not enough in place to stop this from happening. We need a tightening up of building regulations and inspections to make sure these misconnections don’t occur in the first place.”
Katie Boyles, chair of Brent River Park Charity, said: “We also welcome the news that Ealing Council has actively listened and has made a good start by making sure some of the worst misconnections in this borough have been fixed.”
She added that residents could be completely unaware their homes were misconnected, with problems potentially resulting from inadequate investigation and enforcement when properties were built or extended.
