Chaos in pretty Cotswolds village after residents blocked from using toilets for 48 hours

A Cotswolds village is facing growing anger after plans for 30 new homes were approved despite residents warning that the local sewage network is so overwhelmed they are sometimes unable to use their toilets for up to 48 hours. Villagers in Willersey, near Broadway, say the existing system is already failing during periods of heavy rain and fear more development will push it beyond breaking point.

Cotswold District Council’s planning committee met this week to consider the controversial application from Eagle One Homes, which includes housing, parking, public open space and a sustainable drainage system on land north of Folly View in Broadway Road. More than 100 people objected, raising serious concerns over flooding, drainage and long-running infrastructure problems.

Resident Roger Webb told councillors the village had endured sewage failures for more than a decade. 

Calling for the scheme to be rejected, he said: “These are live documented failures of the existing infrastructure.”

He described recent incidents where Severn Trent had to deploy emergency equipment to stop the system collapsing, GloucestershireLive reports. 

“Two weeks ago after a single day of rain, Severn Trent deployed road tankers for 36 hours to prevent the Badsey Lane Pumping Station from being overwhelmed,” he said. 

“Last weekend, after two days of rain, two standalone pumps and two 5,000-gallon temporary holding tanks were sited to protect the station and, of course, the village.”

Conservative District Councillor Tom Stowe also urged the committee to refuse the plans, saying Willersey was open to new housing but not at the expense of safety and basic services.

“The sewage network is demonstrably unfit for purpose, even for existing homes, let alone new developments,” he said.

Cllr Stowe said the situation had been ongoing for 20 years and that he had personally witnessed dangerous incidents caused by pressure in the system. 

“I’ve been stood on Colin Lane in periods of rainfall and a main highway manhole cover weighing in the region of 20 to 25kg has been blown clear by pressure in the system 25 metres down the road,” he told the meeting.

He added: “It is sheer luck that nobody has been seriously injured. There’s flood water infused with raw sewage a foot deep in the road. 

“Residents' gardens are left contaminated with raw sewage and toilet waste. Homes experience backing up in the network, meaning residents are unable to use their toilets for up to 48 hours at a time.”

Willersey Parish councillor Jane Rintoul said this proposal was one of two coming forward, totalling 90 new homes.

She warned that although the village has around 900 residents and 495 homes, its services are shrinking, not expanding. 

“Our shop closed in 2020 and the nearest convenience store in Broadway ceased trading last month,” she said. “Our school is full in some key age groups with no physical capacity to expand.”

She added that most people are registered with GPs in Worcestershire and that limited bus services would force new residents to rely on cars.

Speaking for Eagle One Homes, Ed Leeson defended the scheme and said the number of proposed homes had already been cut from 50 to 30. 

He added: “It is not an isolated incursion into the countryside nor speculative sprawl but a contained extension to the village.”

He also insisted that concerns over flooding had been taken seriously, saying: “The applicant recognises the local concerns regarding drainage and flooding risk and the proposals have been subject to detailed consideration and ongoing engagement with the lead local flooding authority and Severn Trent Water.”

He added that a robust drainage strategy could be delivered without increasing flood risk elsewhere.

After debating the issue, councillors voted to approve the plans by seven votes to one, with one abstention. Permission is subject to Gloucestershire County Council, the lead flood authority, raising no objections.