A South London 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 told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “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 boggy 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.
She said: “It’s a public park so anybody could come in off the street and play around. Does somebody have to take an eye off their two-year-old who drowns in the bog because nobody’s paying attention?”
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.
The resident said: “The delay and the negligence all around [this incident] just makes it totally ripe for further disasters to happen.
"All of the problems are solvable when they first happen and then they’re neglected for years and years and it gets worse.”
She added: “What am I supposed to do? They’re [the council] responsible for whatever damage their flood has caused to my house.
"Is this something I’m going to have to go to my insurance for? Am I responsible for fixing what they refuse to fix?
"How complicated can it be to fix a leak in a historic square that’s been going on since June 2021?”
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 told the LDRS: “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.”
Another resident of the estate, James Varcoe, 58, said the situation was “shocking”.
He told the LDRS: “In my humble opinion, it’s Bromley’s utter absolution of responsibility. It’s a public park… They cannot deny responsibility.”
A Thames Water spokesperson told the LDRS: “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.
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